Broken Seals
by TangentTeam
Summary: The apprentice of a prodigy. The day the Nine-Tails attacked changed his life for the worse. Can he suppress his urge to follow his long-lost friend's mission to bring peace to the shinobi world? Or will he stick to his oaths and protect his only home? Trigger Warning: Gore, Broken Minds, Romance, Story, Strong-OC, OC-Centric, Slow burn. (Author: TangentTwo)
1. Chapter I: Besieged I

A/N: Well fuck I wrote something alone, thats new. Well I guess any feedback would be great. So yeah. This is why One does these stupid author notes. He knows what he's doing.

* * *

TangentOne: Where did this story come from?

TangentTwo: One, you silly goose! It came from my brain.

TangentOne: Why do I bother?

TangentTwo: Because you're forced to. The Almighty Tangent can't be denied, One. Sorry bud.

TangentOne: What are you even on about?

TangentTwo: Don't play coy with me, princess!

* * *

It was a dark night for Konohagakure, the ANBU barracks was silent with all members either not on duty or scrambling. Tonight was the night that the Nine-Tails was unleashed on the unknowing village, wreaking havoc and slaughtering all who got too close, neither civilians nor ninjas were spared. I dart towards the barracks, previously I had been in the town, with the other off duty ANBU shinobi.

"Fuck, how did this happen?" I ask myself, a worried expression covering my face.

I run at full speed across the ninja highway and leap through the ANBU barracks window. I quickly put on my gear and grab my mask, the mask was shaped like a wolf which symbolizes my ability to work in a group but also alone. After I was ready I jumped out the same window I left and zeroed in on the Third Hokage. He was the one organising the counter attack, or defence, it was a messy affair and I couldn't tell which it was.

"Lord Third what is happening here? Is Minato-sensei okay?" I ask Lord Third, he could tell I was extremely worried, and I had the right to be. The Nine-Tailed jinchūriki was after all my family.

"Ah Yūichi my dear boy, I don't know what has happened or where Lord Fourth is, but we must stop this beast before we don't have a village to protect." Lord Third explains, barking orders to the shinobi attacking the Tailed Beast.

* * *

 _Joining the Ninja Academy_

 _It was my first day at the academy, and I was as nervous as could be. I have been training since I could walk, but still, finally joining the academy was an honor I had long awaited. Once I was inside the building I walked to the signup room. Inside was the head Chūnin along side the Third Hokage himself. At the back of the room, lingering in the shadows was a figure, around five foot eight inches in height, but I pushed that out of my mind and moved over to the chair in front of them._

 _"Name?" The Chūnin asks, picking up a pen and a clipboard._

 _"Mizuno Yūichi of Uzushiogakure." I respond, sitting nervously in my seat._

 _"Hm, Minato-san, is this your apprentice in fūinjutsu?" Lord Third questions the lingering figure at the back, quietly as if it was its own conversation._

 _"That he is, Lord Third." The figure answers._

 _"Interesting." Lord Third mutters to himself, deep in thought._

 _"So, Yūichi. Why do you want to join the academy?" The Chūnin continues ignoring the conversation between the figure and the Third Hokage._

 _"To further my skills and protect my village." I explain to him._

 _"Good, next, do you believe you can endure all that comes with being a shinobi?" The Chūnin asks next, while still writing down my first answer._

 _"Enough," Lord Third orders, stunning the Chūnin next to him. "Yūichi is the apprentice of Namikaze Minato, he has already shown he has all the qualities we ask in applicants."_

 _"Yes Lord Third," The Chūnin went about finishing the paperwork and getting up to work the camera. "Please stand in front of the camera Yūichi."_

 _I stand and walk over to the camera, standing on the designated spot, glancing out of my left eye at the Third Hokage._

 _"May I take my leave Lord Third?" The figure asks._

 _"Yes, I'm sure you have somewhere better to be." Lord Third states, waving the figure off._

 _"We're done now Lord Third, is there anything else he needs to do before he leaves?" The Chūnin asks, walking back over to the table where The Third Hokage is sat._

 _"No, he has a training session to attend, we have taken enough of his time, right Yūichi?" Lord Third winks at me, guesting for me to leave._

 _It was not what I had expected, but I was overjoyed to be admitted into the academy and even more so the praise given to me by Lord Third. The praise was not direct but given the parts of the conversation I could hear, it seems he expects a lot from me._

 _I'd best not disappoint him or Minato-sensei._

* * *

"I understand Lord Third. What would you have me do?" I want to know how I could assist in any way, this was my village to protect and I couldn't fail.

"You are the only one other than Lord Fourth who can be everywhere quick enough to help each front of the defence. So I want you to asses the situation and go where you think you can best help." Lord Third left me on the rooftop as he jumped into action to directly face the Nine-Tails.

"Yes Lord Third." I acknowledge his orders and left to get a better view of the battlefield.

I throw one of my unique kunai, with a seal on it, to the top of a building as just as it past the top of the roof, then teleport to it.

Flying Thunder God Jutsu, a useful tool on and off of the battlefield.

I land softly on the roof, I stuck the kunai, used to reach here, into the ground as a easy way to get back here should I need to. I survey the battlefield looking for either an opening in the Nine-Tails defence to launch an attack or someone to help away from the battle. I quickly notice a burning building, the local orphanage, was about to collapse with some civilians still present inside. The orphanage was near an ANBU lookout, so I used the Flying Thunder God jutsu to teleport to my seal inside of the lookout, jumping out of it once I arrived to assist with helping evacuate the building.

"Water Release: Water Gun" I flew through the hand seals for the jutsu.

Upon finishing the hand seals a stream of water shot from out of my mouth onto the burning building, extinguishing the flames and making it easier for the few shinobi nearby to enter the building to finish evacuating.

"Thank you Wolf-san." One of the ninja present says bowing towards me.

"Don't worry about it." I respond, again teleporting to the roof I was once at.

The battle continues to rage on and there was still no sign of Lord Fourth, causing me worry and a need to find him. I knew I couldn't and pushed myself back into surveying the battlefield. At that second, it seems that a counter attack was coming from the Sarutobi clan, I decide to help them with my own jutsu. I threw a marked kunai towards them and it landed behind them a few seconds later. I then appeared behind them boosting their moral.

"Ah Wolf-san, you've come to help us?" One of the Sarutobi clansmen asks, readying his jutsu along with the rest of them.

"That I am," I started to ready my next jutsu, again flying through the hand seals. "Fire Release: Great Dragon Fireball."

As I announced my jutsu, so did all the Sarutobi clansmen, launching around fifty fireballs into the air, led by my dragon shaped fireball. All of the attacks land hitting the left flank of the Nine-Tails, furthering its rage and also causing it a slight amount of damage.

It's slowing, but the Nine-Tails still has a lot more fight left in it.

The Nine-Tails, recoils slightly after the attack, roaring into the air and pushing itself onto it's hind legs. It's tails start to point to above its maw, which was pointed towards the sky. A small ball starts to form at the end of it's tails, growing in size with each second, fear now overcoming all the ninja in the village.

"Oh shit, this is not going to end well, retreat further into the village." I order the surrounding ninjas, trying to organise something in this mess.

As I ordered a retreat, the Nine-Tails finishes preparing its attack and proceeds to fire it a Hokage Rock. The ball shot through the village, ripping up the ground and buildings below as it passed over them, but before it could hit Hokage Rock something awe inspiring happened. A Seal appeared around the ball, sucking it into a time-space dimension.

Lord Fourth is here.

The Fourth Hokage appears onto the battlefield, saving the village from a devastating attack, and turning the tide somewhat. The entire village's moral had been renewed and any who could launched further offensives against the Nine-Tails doing so. With the likes of the Akimichi Clan using their body manipulation jutsu to attack, the Inuzuka Clan with their animal partners attacking in waves and the Hyūga Clan using their Byakūgan to hit the beast in its weak spots.

I decide I would be of better use elsewhere in the village and teleport back to the tower I planted my sealed kunai into, surprisingly it was still standing after being so close to the passing Nine-Tails attack. The battle seems to be going a lot better now, both Lord Fourth and Lord Third are now on the battlefield which has boosted moral to a fever pitch.

Once atop the tower I start to observe the battle again, doing my best to see where my skills would benefit most. A few moments passed, I stayed perched atop the tower not finding any weak point in our offensive.

"I guess I'll report to Lord Third again, he'll know what I should do." I mutter, preparing to teleport to him, via the sealed kunai I had given him a few years ago.

I hope Lord Third has it on him or else I'll have to take the long way there.

Luckily he had the kunai and I appear behind him, kneeling down to ask for my next orders.

"There are no weak points in our offensive Lord Third, what would you have me do?" I ask.

"Find Lord Fourth, it seems he's no longer in the village and we'll need his abilities to end this fight." Lord Third states, preparing his next attack.

"Yes, Lord Third." I teleport to behind Lord Fourth via the seal he asked me place on him.

"An interloper?" A man clad in a cloak spat out, anger dripping from his tone.

"Yūichi? What are you doing here?" Lord Fourth inquires, in a deadlock with the cloaked man.

"I'm here to help you, as per the orders of Lord Third." I explain, readying myself for the ensuring battle.

"Hm? Interesting, but it does not change the outcome of this battle, you have already lost." The cloaked man, darts towards Lord Fourth, with a chain attached to both of his arms trailing behind him.

"Yūichi, formation two." Lord Fourth calls out to me.

It's been awhile since we've fought together like this.

* * *

 _Training with Minato-sensei after fūinjutsu practise._

 _"Okay, Yūichi, it's time I taught you some battle formations that we could use in battle if we are separated from the rest of our team," Minato informs me, as he started to get up and ready put on his combat gear. "As you are the only one, other then myself, capable of using the Flying Thunder God Jutsu, we can formulate specific formations to gain an advantage in combat."_

 _"So, you want to teach me formations for battle using the Flying Thunder God Jutsu as the centre point?" I ask, wondering how it would work._

 _"Well, it's more than the centre point, it's the entire backbone for it, without it we wouldn't be able to perform the desired formation I am about to set out," Minato continues opening the door and guesting to follow him. "I'll explain further at the training field, all you need to know right now is it will further your fūinjutsu skills."_

 _"I understand Minato-sensei." I respond, following behind him._

 _Minato and I take the ninja highway to the training field, the quicker we arrived the more time left to train. We head over to training field twenty nine, a large open plain._

 _"Yūichi, now that we are here, it's time I taught you the five formations I have created for us." Minato explains, guesting for me to take up my stance next to him._

 _As I did, he readies himself and pulls out his unique kunai._

 _"Now the first formation I'm going to teach you is formation two, Thunder God Pincer Crush," Minato describes. "This formation will be used to gain a perfect flank, a set of attacks and the perfect counter attack to most jutsus."_

 _"Okay, so how does it work sensei?" I ask, copying Minato and readying myself with my own unique kunai._

 _"Well, I'll be the flanker for this test. The flanker throws a set of seal marked kunai onto the field of battle. The attacker, in this instance you, throws their kunai directly at the target, and prepares a jutsu to use once teleported to the kunai," Minato starts his explanation of the formation. "The flanker will then move to the most appropriate kunai depending on the outcome of the first attack, then if needed perform the killing strike or a counter attack to force them into submission."_

 _"So it's an ensured victory when used right?" I query, now ready to practise it._

 _"No jutsu is an ensured victory, Yūichi, but it's a good way to deal with certain enemies." Minato finishes, now too ready to practise it._

 _After a few hours of practise we stop._

 _"Well it seems you have the basic concept down." Minato said praising me._

 _"So, there are four others?" I question._

 _"That there is and after we rest I'll teach you the next one." Minato confirms._

 _It's going to be a long day._

* * *

As soon as Minato calls out the formation, I littered the battlefield with my seal marked kunai, waiting for the first strike to be dealt so I could act accordingly. The masked man had not stopped and Minato had launched his kunai at the man. To my surprise the kunai was passing through him. I was ready to teleport to the closet kunai to catch him off guard. Minato was a step ahead already holding a fully prepared Rasengan, a jutsu he created.

The kunai finally flew through the man, which Minato appears above and used to hit him with his Rasengan, instantly ending the fight without my intervention. It was all a distraction, Minato didn't need me, just my kunai.

"Well, it seems you are done. Flying Thunder God Level Two." Minato declares, planting his seal on the man.

After a moment or two the man jumped to a nearby piece of debris, holding his arm which seemed to melt away. Minato then teleported to him and used a contract seal to break the man's hold over the Nine-Tails. The masked man recoils and jumps back.

"I shall rule this world. There are plenty of ways to go about it." The man exclaims before warping away.


	2. Chapter II: Besieged II

TangentTwo: My brain excrement strikes again! Have another chapter!

TangentOne: You seriously need help. You've been insane as long as I've known you.

TangentTwo: And you think getting help at this point will actually do something?

TangentOne: No, but at least it meant you'd make an effort to help my sanity.

TangentTwo: Fuck your sanity, my enjoyment comes first!

* * *

Was that who I thought it was?

"Was that -" I utter before being cut off by Minato.

"Uchiha Madara, yes, it seems that way." Minato states, sure he had the right culprit.

"Then we'd best head back to the village, the Nine-Tails is still there." I say still hesitant to believe it was Madara and not who I thought it was, as we both teleport back to Konoha.

We both arrive on the tower I left my kunai in. I was first to appear and Minato teleported to me. We look over the battlefield, the Nine-Tails now in retreat and an all out attack following him.

"I have to stop this and I have a plan, but I need your help Yūichi. Can you do it?" Minato asks me.

"I can, but what do you need me to do, sensei?" I answer.

"I intend to stop the Nine-Tails with my summon, Gamabunta, by summoning him above the Nine-Tails and then restraining it while I think of a way to completely defeat it," Minato details his plan. "I need you to help Lord Third organise the relief effort."

"I understand, sensei." I nod and leave to join Lord Third in attack while Minato launches his plan.

I quickly teleport and arrive at the side of Hiruzen, who's currently leaping from tree to tree in pursuit of the beast, I arrive as the entire attack stops and a giant toad came falling from the sky landing on top of the Nine-Tails, flattening an entire section of the forest. Nearly immediately after the toad fell it teleports away with the Nine-Tails and no sign of where they've gone, a massive void left in the forest, trees lining the floor and sticking into the air at unnatural angles.

"So that's what Lord Fourth is going to do." Lord Third mutters, ordering the entire force to head back to Konoha to help wherever they can while he alone moves on.

"What is Lord Fourth doing?" I inquire, getting no response, just a gesture to follow Lord Third.

I follow Hiruzen through the trees, hoping from to another, gliding through the dense wood, for around ten minutes, only stopping once we come to a barrier blocking an huge area of the forest off. A barrier so advance that we are unable to break through or even bypass it.

"It seems we are too late, Yūichi. It will nearly be done by now." Lord Third exclaims, resigning himself to fate.

"Lord Third, please explain." I demand, worry now in complete control of my aura.

"Lord Fourth, Minato, is preparing to seal the Nine-Tails. With Kushina dying he has to do something and I think he's decided to shoulder this burden alone. He's going to seal the beast inside his son, and he will need you to protect him." Lord Third explains.

"A sealing jutsu doesn't kill the user, unless... He's going to destroy half of the Nine-Tails chakra with the Dead Demon Consuming Seal so he can put the beast into his son. My cousin," Now realising the full scope of his sacrifice, I decide to teleport to him to help, and say goodbye. "Lord Third, I'm going to help Lord Fourth."

"You can't get through this barrier, it's Kushina's own. It's impenetrable, even by Lord Fourths and your Flying Thunder God Jutsu." Lord Third sighs, knowing he can't do anything either.

"Then we can't help until they are both an inch away from death?" I ask, taking my mask off and attaching it to my belt, letting my crimson hair fall back into place.

"That we can't, we can at least help ensure their child grows up safely." Lord Third finishes.

"How did I let this happen? This should not of happened!" I shout, cushing the tree branch I was stood on with an acute increase of chakra to my feet.

I land on the floor below rupturing the ground below me, my chakra still shooting out of my feet. Lord Third jumps over to me as soon as he notices and tries to comfort me.

"It was not your fault, Yūichi. You could not have stopped this even if you knew before it happened, it is the only way to save the village." Lord Third tries to reassure me.

"Fuck this village, I've lost enough because of it!" I howl, killing intent now radiating off of me.

* * *

The loss of an Uchiha

"Obito, I know we are doing this to help Rin, but should we have left Kakashi?" I ask, following my teammate Uchiha Obito, as we make our way to rescue our other teammate Nohara Rin.

"He doesn't understand, he only thinks of us as an obstacle to overcome." Obito shot back at me, passionate about protecting Rin.

"I guess." Keeping close to Obito in case anything happens.

We were closing in on our targets, the Iwagakure ninja's who had taken Rin. The closer we got the quieter Obito was, which started to worry me.

"We're here Obito," I whisper, arriving on the outskirts off a clearing which led into a cave. "Can you see them?"

"Yeah, but no sign of Rin." He quietly replies, checking his surroundings, trying to guess where Rin's captors could be.

We were observing, when someone appears behind Obito taking a quick attack at him with a Ninjatō. Before either Obito or I can react, Kakashi appears next to us taking the blow himself, losing his left eye in the attack.

"Kakashi?" Obito and I ask together.

"I could not leave this to you two, you are not strong enough." Kakashi states, kneeling down holding a hand over his left eye socket.

Obito starts to cry, his emotions surfacing with great passion which helped awaken his Sharingan. He used it to find the attacker and kill him. Kakashi visibly relaxed and began to bandage his eye using the medical kit he received from Rin when he was promoted to Jōnin.

"Are you okay, Kakashi?" I question, walking over to him to take a look for myself.

"It's fine, let's move on the cave where the rest are hiding." Kakashi replies, instructing both Obito and I to move with him, waving off my concern.

We exited the tree line and got closer to the cave, ensuring we wouldn't be spotted by the ones holding Rin. We got to the mouth of the cave, and organised a plan for our attack.

"Obito and I will go in and take out the ninja, Yūichi, I need you to use your speed to get Rin to safety." Kakashi explains.

"I've got it, I'll make sure she's safe." I confirm, readying myself, drawing a kunai.

"Let's go then." Kakashi orders, nodding towards Obito and darting into the cave, finding four men inside.

Obito and Kakashi blew through the Iwagakure-nin extremely fast, leaving multiple windows for me to save Rin. I chose my opening well, leaving a seal on the outside of the cave for if an emergency would cause my team to exit the cave quickly. I launch myself towards the ninja guarding Rin, catching him off guard and placing an explosive seal on him and kicking him away from myself and Rin. Five seconds later the seal explodes and kills the man.

"We've got you Rin." I smile towards her, checking her quickly for any injuries.

"Thank you, Yūichi." She smiles back, tears filling her eyes.

Our conversation was interrupted by the sound of the cave falling to pieces, and huge rocks falling all around us. A cave in was starting to occur and a quick exit was necessary, I thought about using my seal but I needed to be close to all of my teammates to ensure the safety.

"We have to leave, can you walk?" I ask, still watching my surroundings to make sure neither of us are hit by a boulder.

"Yeah, let's get Kakashi and Obito." She follows my lead as I make my way towards Kakashi and Obito, dodging rocks and boulders as best as we can.

We both run over to the rest of our team, as we got to them Kakashi gave us some bad news.

"One of them escaped, more then likely to get some reinforcements." Kakashi informs us, noticeably consumed thinking of a plan.

As he did, a huge boulder fell toward him, taking him completely by surprise. Obito jumps at the last second and pushes Kakashi out of the way, taking the hit himself. It crushes his entire right side, pinning him to the ground, no hope of rescue without any extra shinobi to help lift the boulder.

"Rin, take my left eye out please," Obito starts, looking at Rin, tears again filling his eye. "Kakashi, I'm sorry for not getting you a gift, please take my eye."

"I'm not worthy of this gift, Obito. I'm not even worthy of leading this team." Kakashi utters through a squall of tears.

"No, Kakashi, you're an amazing shinobi and more than worthy to lead our team," Obito affirms, reaching for Kakashi as he consoles him. "Let me be your left eye, so I can help you, Rin and Yūichi to live on."

Kakashi couldn't reply, still crying deeply. Rin nods and began the procedure, which took about ten minutes to finish. The procedure finishes as group of Iwagakure arrive at the cave entrance, readying to attack with bukijutsu and ninjutsu, but before they could Kakashi emerged from the rubble with his new eye and Sharingan activated. He performs the hand seals for his now perfected Chidori and launches himself at the enemy nin. Upon starting the attack, the Iwagakure-nin cause another cave in which stops Kakashi from attacking, us being able to retrieve Obito's body and also forcing our retreat.

"Kakashi, Rin to me. I've got a quick way out of here." I shout, hoping my seal will work and keep all of us safe.

Both Kakashi and Rin grabbed ahold of a shoulder and I activate my new seal, my first working attempt at Flying Thunder God, to transport us outside instantly. We all landed safely outside of the cave maw, checking ourselves over for any signs of injury. The seal left me near out of chakra so I could not help once more Iwagakure arrived.

Kakashi again starts the process to use his Chidori, but immediately before he threw the kunai given to him by Minato. After the kunai left his hand Kakashi also fell to lack of chakra. Once we awoke we saw Minato standing over us.

"The kunai alerted me when it was thrown and I'm sorry I was late arriving," Minato voices smiling at us before asking, his smile fading once he realise we're a man short. "Where is Obito?"

"He died protecting us." Kakashi answers, holding his head low, tearing up at the very thought of Obito being gone.

I will ensure I lose no more friends because of war, I think to myself.

* * *

"Yūichi, you walk a thin line, I know you are angry but you cannot say that," Lord Third now completely serious, standing beside me now, holding his hand on my shoulder. "I'll forgive you this once, but the next time I will not."

"Fine." I force myself into a calm state, still trying to think of a way to penetrate the barrier, but none came to mind.

"I'm sorry, Yūichi. I want to help them as well, but Lord Fourth chose this, now we will have to fulfil his wishes." Lord Third reminds me, thoughts racing through my mind of Minato and Kushina, and how they are a big part of my life.

I didn't reply, I chose to continue looking through the barrier to see if I could pinpoint Minato, Kushina and my newborn cousin. I couldn't, not being a sensor has it's issues.

Why did he choose this? Why!

The time passes slowly while waiting for the barrier to fade enough to pass through it, five minutes felt like a lifetime, but the barrier finally faded.

"It's time!" I roar, activating the seal I placed on Minato and teleporting directly to him and Kushina.

"Yūichi, wai-" Lord Third tries to say before I teleported.

I arrive next to the bodies of both Minato and Kushina, which was next to a completely destroyed safe house, with their newborn laid crying in a basket. I check to see if Minato or Kushina are breathing, they are but only slightly.

"Minato-sensei what happened? Are you okay Kushina?" I ask them both in turn.

"Yū...ichi. Is that you?" Minato utters, inching closer to death with each word, looking at me with eyes brimming with happiness at achieving his goal of stopping the Nine-Tails. Even if it was at the cost of his life.

"Nephew, please look after Naruto." Kushina is just able to ask before slipping away, blood still seeping from a gigantic wound in her stomach.

"Yūichi, I need you to take Naruto to your parents so he'll have a home, and as my last order as Hokage, I release you from ANBU," Minato announces to me, a similar wound to Kushina allowing blood to run into the ground. "I want you to take Naruto under your wing when he's old enough to train, until then please find Jiraiya."

Hiruzen arrives shortly after me, recoiling at the sight before him. The area was trashed, the house all but rubble, blood soaked into the mud and the future of the leaf now laid dying. He walks over to Minato to kneel by his side.

"What would you have us do Lord Fourth?" Lord Third queries, looking Minato over.

"Ensure the village regards Naruto as a hero and not a monster because he is the new Nine-Tails jinchūriki." He responds before to slipping away into the slumber known as death.

Lord Third and I both stood up, looking at each other and then the surroundings in turn taking in all that had happened, before breaking the silence.

"Yūichi, I'm going to convene the elders once the relief force is finished, so I can share their last wish with the village," Lord Third expresses. "Also the baby will take the Uzumaki clan name to ensure no enemy of Lord Fourth tries to find him. Seen as you arrived here before me did they say anything else?"

"They did, Kushina asked me to look after Naruto, which Minato followed by asking me to take him to my parents to be raised with a home." I clarify, ensuring I give Hiruzen all of the details I was given. "He also asked me to find Jiraiya for him."

"Is that all?" Lord Third asks with slight worry, trying to gauge if I had left anything out.

"Yes, Lord Third." I reply, withholding Minato's last order to release me from ANBU from him so I never have time to dwell on this day.

"Then let us be off." Lord Third orders, looking at me with slight doubt.

Lord Third launches himself to the nearest tree and starts to make his way back to the city. Before I follow, I pick up a few of Minato's unique kunai as a memento for myself and Kakashi, then I pick up the baby Naruto and left myself for the village. I was able to catch up to Lord Third, my speed allowing me to jump further without needing to land, and follow him to the village before departing for my clans household, a rather large manor near the centre of the Konoha. The manor itself was adorned with the symbol of both my Kaa-san's clan and my Tou-san's clan. The Uzumaki symbol, a swirling whirlpool, and the Mizuno symbol, a raincloud.

I land in front of the door to my house, before opening it and walking inside. The inside was rather modest for a house of its size, boosting the modern decor whilst also being humble and heartwarming. A safe place for the son of Minato.

"Tou-san, Kaa-san, I'm home and I have something I need to tell you." I shout into the house, both my mother and father were not active ninjas, but were still quick to respond.

"Yūichi, what are you doing home at this hour? Aren't you on duty?" My Tou-san asks walking, with Kaa-san behind him, into the main room where I'm standing.

"I was but this is my current order," I present them with the baby, Naruto. "He's Minato-sensei and Kushina-san's son, and I've been asked to bring him to you. He needs you."

"What do you mean? Shouldn't he be with Kushina? By the way where are they?" They query again, deep worry covering their faces.

"As you know the Nine-Tails attacked, but Minato-sensei was able to defeat the beast. Unfortunately it took his life to do so, and because the beast was freed Kushina died too," I explain, hoping they would find no reason to refuse. Kaa-san eyes start to fill with tears starting to roll down her face. "They told me to ask you to take care of him, so he'd have a home."

My Tou-san stood still looking me over to see if I was being truthful to him, while Kaa-san was a wreck crying in a heap on the floor.

"If that's what Minato and Kushina wanted then of course we will take the boy in, but tell me, Yū, was it a peaceful death?" Tou-san inquires, helping Kaa-san up and consoling her.

"They died protecting both their son and Konoha, they died heros," I illustrate, hiding my anger as best I can, my disdain for the village stocking it the best it can. "I have to report back to Lord Third, I'll be back once I've handed in my report."

"Yū, be strong, we know how much you idolised Minato, and how close you were with Kushina. You must do it for them." Tou-san told me, taking Naruto from my arms and showing him to Kaa-san.

"Then I'm going. Bye, Tou-san, Kaa-san." I voice as I turn and leave, jumping to the nearest roof.

I land on the roof and teleport myself back to the barracks, but when I appear a man clad in a black robe was stood in front of me, his back towards me. His head has bandages around one side. The barracks was empty other than the presence of the man.

I know this man, it's Shimura Danzō, the revered elder. What business does he have here?

"Lord Danzō, how can I be of service?" I ask, kneeling before him, holding my head down as an act of respect.

"Mizuno Yūichi, I come with an offer for you. I would like to ask you to join my special division of ANBU." Danzō responds, still with his back to me.

"Your division, Lord Danzō?" I question, if Danzō has an offer me it can't bode well.

"Yes, but for now, I would ask you keep it a secret until I am able to make it official," Danzō explains, turning his head slightly towards me, his right eye looking at me out of the corner of his eye. "I'll be back in a few weeks, and I will hear your answer then. Just know, I don't offer this to many."

As he utters his last word, his disappears, leaving the barracks now completely void of life. I stand up and walk over to my bunk, taking off my gear and placing it into my gear box. Once I finish I lay down onto my bed and drift off to sleep, trying to put this horrid day to rest.

* * *

I awoke the next day, preparing myself as I would usually do, donning my fishnet top and bottoms, standard black trousers and sleeveless top. Next I put on my gray flak jacket and armguards, picking up my set of ninjatō's placing them on my lower back in a cross shape. Before finally placing my mask onto my face. Once I was done I left to see Hiruzen, wondering if there were any missions that required my assistance.

I left through the window next to my bunk and made my way over the rooftops of Konoha, pacing myself for the day ahead. Konoha was already starting to heal, various teams of shinobi helping clear the rubble and civilian builders rebuilding the houses destroyed in the attack. The damage this far into the village was minimal, only really damaging a few buildings, still the rooftops were filled with shinobi traveling to other parts of the village.

I was at the Hokage's office within a couple of minutes, entering through the window and kneeling before Hiruzen, he was now fully dressed in his Hokage robe and hat.

"Lord Third, is there anything that requires my attention today?" I query.

"Ah, Yūichi, I didn't expect you to report in so early, considering what happened yesterday, but now that you're here I do have something to ask you," Lord Third starts, pausing before asking his question. "Are you sure you're okay? Can you still perform to the level required of you?"

"I am, Lord Third, I just need something to keep my mind clear." I confirm, still kneeling.

"If you're sure, I have a mission that requires immediate action. I need you to go to the border with Kusagakure. There is a missing-nin there who is said to harbour information pertaining to the Nine-Tails attack and other village secrets," Lord Third begins, reading of of the mission scroll. "I don't personally believe this ninja knows anything about the attack but I cannot risk village secrets getting to other villages. So I need you to retrieve the information and dispose of the ninja."

"Yes, Lord Third." I accept, taking the mission scroll and jumping back out the window to complete the mission.


	3. Chapter III: Descent I

TangentOne: Two, hows your day been?

TangentTwo: Now that you've started to work on Heirs of Sin? Great!

TangentOne: That was an unnecessary comment.

TangentTwo: That's where you're wrong, it was entirely necessary.

* * *

Once I had got outside of the Hokage office, I left for the main gate. Jumping from roof to roof, minimising my contact with the roofs as to not wake up any of the still sleeping civilians. It only took me fourteen minutes to arrive at the main gate. As I land next to the guard post next to the gate, a voice greets me.

"Morning Wolf-san, I'll prepare the forms you need to fill out." The Chūnin greets, rustling about collecting the forms I need to sign.

""Morning, Guard-san, there been any problems this morning?" I return the greeting, leaning against the guard post.

"No, it's been rather quiet since the Nine-Tails was repelled," He answers, handing me the previously mentioned forms. "Please sign these."

I took the forms from the Chūnin, filled them out, and handed them back to him and began to leave, leaping to the nearest tree. The Chūnin waves at me as I start my journey for the border with Kusagakure, but before I started the mission, I went to the memorial stone located near training field three. I hadn't been for a while, but it was time I return to grieve for my lost comrades.

I divert myself once I near the training fields to the memorial stone, soon landing in front of it. The stone contains a full list of ninja lost since the village's founding, but the reason I am here is for 'him'. This is the only place I can really dwell on my past, everything that happened whilst I grew. I was never really able to rebuild myself afterwards.

He and I were inseparable when he was alive.

This friend, he meant a lot. Someone I could rely on, lean on and take the worries away. Someone I could be happy around, be myself around. The other members of Team Minato were reserved when it came to me. Rin stayed distant, if I had to guess it was because I was Minato's apprentice, not an official member of the team. Kakashi ignored me entirely, never once trying to get close, though I did try. That changed when Obito died, we moved our relationship to more of a reluctant friendship, which, over time grew to a tight bond.

 _A loss of a friend can change things._

I stand in front of the memorial, silently contemplating everything I've been through. The trails I've had to endure. Thinking of each friend or family member I've lost along the way. I spent about half an hour stood there, before another man appears next to me.

"Wolf." The man voices, staring at the memorial as well.

"Hound." I respond, mirroring him, staring deeply at the memorial stone.

We both stand still, neither of us speaking another word to each other. The morning breeze blowing the trees about, forcing brown leaves to fall around us and littering the ground. I continue to ponder my past, before the man again broke the silence.

"It's been awhile, Yūichi. How are you holding up?" The man asks, now turning to face me.

"Well, Kakashi, I'm alive. I guess that's my punishment for not being fast enough. How about yourself?" I start, again mirroring his actions and reaching for one of Minato's kunai that I saved, then handing it to him. "This is for you."

"I honestly don't know anymore, first Obito, then Rin and now Minato. I can't help but think it's either myself or you who is next," Kakashi reasons taking the kunai from me, radiating a depressed aura. "Promise me you won't go and get yourself killed."

He was right, not long after Obito died in the cave-in while saving Rin, she was kidnapped by a few teams of ANBU-nin from Kirigakure and was made the jinchūriki of the Three-tails. I was out of the village training, while Kakashi was sent alone to retrieve her facing all of the ninja alone. Unfortunately he was unable to save her, she had figured out why she was able to escape from the Kiri-nin with Kakashi so easily, asking Kakashi to kill her to save the village. She impaled herself on his chidori when a kiri-nin tried to attack them. Kakashi hadn't told me what happened after, and I dared not pry.

"I'll do what I can, Kakashi, but I'll need you to do the same." I counter, holding my hand out.

"I'll try." He too holds his hand out and grabs mine, shaking on it.

"Then I'd best be off before my target gets away." I remark, turning to leave and waving back at Kakashi before I lept to the trees to began my journey in earnest.

As soon as I left the memorial stone and Kakashi, hopping from tree to tree, only my mission is on my mind. Each jump got me one step further to my destination, the scenery changing faster than I would care to notice. My mind fully occupied by the events of the last few days, with the mission trying to repress them, keeping my focus on the operation. For every hour that passes me by, I change my movement. Changing my very path, my speed and the height at which I travel.

* * *

Nine hours of travel I decide to stop at a small village, near a river. The village was extremely small, only ten buildings in total, one of which was a inn, or at least it looked like one. I decide to make camp around a ten minute walk away from the village, hidden in the tree line. I choose to lay special seals around my camp, ones that will alert me if anyone moves to close to my camp. Once I made camp I check my supplies to make sure I had brought enough for the week long mission I expected this to be.

"Good, I brought enough supplies. I'll reach the border tomorrow midday and begin my search for the shinobi." I mutter to myself, lying down on my sleeping bag, staring at the stars and drifting to sleep.

* * *

Morning came with the sounds of birds, singing their songs for all to hear. I got myself up slowly not wanting to make any noise, as the man I'm looking for could be close by. Equipping my gear took no longer than a minute, packing the camp took around fifteen minutes. As I pack the last part of my camp I start to take my seals down and burn them, not wanting anyone to reverse engineer them for their own use. With all of the seals now dealt with I leapt into the trees and begin the last leg of the my journey to the targets last known location.

Four hours was all that was left of my journey and upon reaching the town the ninja was in. The journey was mostly through the trees until reaching the border, using the same system as the trip before. Each hour changing my movement pattern, speed and height as to ward off any pursuers. I then used the plains to reach the town, wanting to ensure I was not going to be detected.

The town itself was rather well guarded, town men patrolling rather frequently, too often for a town of its size. I found an opening in the patrols, sneaking into the town and leaping to the roof of one of the town's larger buildings on the outskirts of the settlement. I take out the mission scroll, and read it further, learning all I can to see if I can pinpoint his location instead of wasting time looking. His name is Niwa Hatsuo, a missing-nin from Konoha, left before the Third Great Shinobi War, a B-rank threat. His page in the bingo book gives a lot more insight than the mission scroll. It has his nature releases and also the information he may know.

 _At least it's a start._

I decide the best place to start my search would be at the local taverns or pubs, and given I'm wearing ANBU gear it makes it slightly harder. My options vary, I could use the henge jutsu, disguising myself as the common people, or a stakeout each pub using my seals. I chose the latter, as it will cover a larger area, and cut down the time I will be here. The seals themselves sense chakra alerting me if the chakra detected is above a certain amount, chūnin or above, mostly for my report. I launch myself off of the roof, across the buildings to find the taverns and plant the seals. Placing them took me a few hours, but once I'd set them all I found the tallest building and perched atop it, beginning the wait.

* * *

Time passes quickly, the day shifts itself into night, the once bright sky turning into a void with only the lamps emitting light. None of my seals had activated since being placed. I'll admit I was unable to place them perfectly during the day, but I have a feeling I know where Hatsuo will turn up. While I waited for my seals to alert me, I scouted the town and found somewhere the man would more than likely be.

"If he's not in the taverns, he must be in the town elders manor. Hopefully not giving out any secrets." I mumble, leaping off of the building towards the manor.

The guards seem to have stepped up their game since the day ended, now stationing themselves on the roofs, making my job a little harder. I stop myself, nearly landing next to a patrol, just dodging them by hanging off of the building until they pass, which didn't take long. Once they left I pull myself up and hatch a new plan. I need to get to the manor quickly, as if he's not there he must of seen my seals and already left the town. I pull out one of my kunai imbuing it with my wind chakra, launching it at the manor. My full force sending across the city and landing in the manor. I look around before activating my seal and teleporting to the side of the building, funneling chakra into my feet as not to fall.

"Step one, finished. Now to find him." I voice silently, finding my way to a window and entering through it once it's open.

Once inside the manor, I walk cautiously through the building, slowly looking through each room. No one seems to be home, or at least not in the manors upper floors. There was still the lower floors to search, but they would be filled with servants.

 _It'll be easier to smoke him out, if he's here._

I start by pulling out some explosive tags, ones I created myself to take longer to explode, meaning I can plant traps or blow up various points to cause distractions. The latter being what I intend to do, planting the seals in each room of the upper floor and jumping back out of the window. Landing onto the ground, leaping to a tree to use as a hiding place until the target leaves and within a few seconds of leaving the building, the tags went off. Each one following the next. The upper floor caving in within seconds, leaving the lower levels to struggle to withhold the pressure from the weight of the rubble now attop it.

"Everyone out!" One of the few guards present outside of the manor shouts, followed by a stream of people leaving the building.

"What's going on." A large man storming out of the building demands, approaching the guard.

"There was a few explosions on the upper floors, we believe there may be an enemy ninja present in the village." The guard correctly states, as a rather shady man approaches him.

"It's not just any ninja, it's a Konoha-nin. I'm sure of it." The man explains, a worried look taking over him.

"Konoha? Damn them. How did they find you? You said you ensured you were untraceable," The large man bellows. "That's it, the deal is off. If Konoha knows you are here, I can't risk buying the information you are offering."

While the two men argue, I pull out my kunai and ready myself to make a move once they finish.

"Calm down, it's nothing I can't handle, and once I have we can get back down to business." The target voices, turning to leave.

He starts to walk away before leaping to the nearest building, sprinting in the direction of the outskirts of the town. Once the crowd was sufficiently occupied, I follow the ninja, using a lower path to ensure he didn't spot me. Ten minutes felt like an age, trailing the man, through the city, avoiding him and civilians both to make sure no bystanders will be injured by my mission. We finally made it to the outskirts of the city, where the man made a stop once in a clearing.

"Now, where should I start the look for this interloper?" The ninja asks himself, unsheathing a tantō strapped to his left shin.

"How about I save you the trouble," I announce, flying through the hand seals for a jutsu. "Fire Release: Blazing Rasengan."

A ball starts to appear in my right hand, rotating so fast that the human eye would have a problem to notice. After a moment fire starts to lace itself into the ball, flames flowing from the ball. Once I finish the prep I launch myself at the man dodging the swipe of his tantō, before planting the jutsu into his lower back. It sends him flying into the nearest tree, a good fifty feet.

"Now, it's time you tell me everything you know," I assert, walking over to the man, grabbing his head and pulling him up. "Before you spill your guts, it's best I take you somewhere no one can find you."

I subdue the man, tying his hands to his sides to prevent the use of hand seals, covering his head with a bag and draping him over my shoulder. I walk back to the tree line, jumping to the nearest tree and making my way deep into the forest. Leaping from tree to tree makes the trip very short, finding myself deep in the forest. I stop, dropping the man from the tree, letting him crash onto the ground.

"It looks like it's time to get the information I was sent to retrieve." I remark, dropping to next to him, turning him over to begin my work.

I start by taking the bag off of his head, ripping the muzzle off and beginning my interrogation. I first stab a kunai into his left leg, causing him to cry out in pain and soon whimpering.

"Are you ready to give me the information you stole when you betrayed Konoha?" I ask, twisting the kunai ever so slightly.

"Fu…ck you!" He returns, agony in his voice.

"That's not the correct answer, a shame," I reply, taking out a second kunai, piercing his other leg. "If you're not ready to comply, I know many ways to change your mind."

"I'll... never tell… you anything, Konoha scum." He retorts, trying to conceal his anguish.

"You're full of wrong answers aren't you? Answer me this," I point out, twisting both kunai now, exerting a great deal of pain. I can do more with my knowledge of the human anatomy. "What role did you play in the Nine-Tails attack on Konoha?"

"What? None, you think I'd mess with the wife of the Fourth Hokage? I may be a traitor but I'm not an idiot." The Ninja expresses ignoring the pain.

"Good, now we're getting somewhere." I comment, before continuing the torture, pulling out my torture tools from my waist bag.

* * *

The torture took a few hours, screams finally halting leaving the forest silent for the first time since I began my procedure. I begin to clean my tools, meticulously wiping them and placing them back into their place in the pouch, then into my bag once they were all cleaned.

"Well, I've enjoyed our time together, but your time is up," I declare, standing myself up and looming over the bloodied man. "I have no order to keep you alive."

I prepare the hand seals for a simply fire release jutsu, backing up and releasing it onto the man, watching as he burns to ash. The fire rages as I leap to a nearby tree, keeping my distance from the fire, waiting for it to burn out so I can ensure the body is gone. While watching the fire rage, a group of men start to arrive to fight the fire, each using water jutsu to put it out.

"More ninja, so he either had accomplices or they merely want to fight the fire." I mutter under my breath, still watching carefully.

The ninja continue to fight the fire, each fighting a different part of it, keeping it in check. The more time that passes the more desperate the men seem, each now barking orders to each other, none willing to give in. Until one passes out from chakra exhaustion, the rest now jumping to his rescue to keep the fire from claiming him too.

"It's a waste of time, the body will be gone by now." One of the shinobi announces to his team mates.

"Damn, you're right. The least we can do is find the perpetrator of this crime, this information could of secured own town for years." The older of the ninja growls, killing intent now leaking from him.

The last of the group stays quite, eyeing his surroundings before fixating his gaze on my position. A sensor. As the others argue, his gaze never leaves my position, ever watching before finally speaking up.

"Shhh, we are being observed." He finally lets out, pointing to the tree in which I am perching in.

The remaining two now look towards the tree, each readying their respective weapons before launching a set of kunai at the tree. Each missing its mark.

"Further up." The sensor informs them, pointing to my exact position.

 _How the fuck does he know my position._

The duo look to each other again before nodding and launching another set of kunai at my position. As the kunai fly, I throw a bunch of my marked kunai into the surrounding trees, each just escaping their detection, teleporting to one that landed behind a tree next to the one I was perching in. Each of the kunai thrown by the duo fly true, but hit the tree itself, confusion filling their faces.

"There's no one there, are you sure you sensed someone?" The older of the standing duo asks the sensor, relaxing his stance.

"There was, but at the last seconded he disappeared." The sensor explains, doubting his own words.

"Well, we haven't got the chakra left to find them, it's best we left and got Goro some assistance." The younger of the duo states, sheathing his weapons and picking up the man who fainted.

"I agree, it's best left alone, If they can move that fast we'd stand no chance even if we were all fresh." The older ninja sagely voices, helping carry the exhausted shinobi.

The four shinobi walk through the trees, once far enough away jumping to the tree branches and heading back to, what I could only guess was the small town.

"Good, I wasn't spotted," I mumble to myself walking into the open, watching the last of the fire die out. "They should of waited a little longer."

I begin to check for the body, and upon seeing only ash, begin my trip home by leaping back into the trees and heading for the village I camped near on the way here. I was making better time then the trip here, so I decide to make it all the way back to Konoha in one trip.

I arrive outside of Konoha in the very early morning, guards all on high alert. Given the Nine-Tails attack was only a few days ago, it makes perfect sense. I walk up to the guard post next to the closed gate. The guard on duty waved me over, signalling to open the door. The large gate, creaks open, slowly exposing the village. As the gate finishes opening, I sprint through and head straight for the ANBU barracks, to rest before handing in the mission tomorrow morning.


	4. Chapter IV: Descent II

TangentOne: This story seems a little too good for your brain, Two.

TangentTwo: You underestimate me? The Great and Mighty Two?

TangentOne: It's not an underestimation, just a simple comment.

TangentTwo: Thems fightin' words!

* * *

The morning light shone through the barracks window next to my bunk, lighting my face and ushering me awake. I rise slowly, wiping my eyes clear of drowsiness, donning my equipment and writing my report. I finish the report, roll it up and place it inside my pouch. I move over to the window and leap out of it, landing softly on the roof below.

The rooftops were clear this morning, no active ninja in sight. I hop from rooftop to rooftop, finding myself at the Hokage's office in good time. Entering through the window as usual and land next to Hiruzen's desk. Hiruzen is sitting, filling out paperwork, puffing his pipe and overall ensuring the safety of the village.

"Lord Third, I have successfully completed my mission." I announce, kneeling next to him with my head held low.

"Ah, Yūichi, I was not expecting you back so soon. Please hand me your report." Lord Third asks, holding his hand out towards me.

I pull the report from my waist pouch, handing it to Hiruzen. He starts to read it, noting every detail and pondering on the contents. As he finishes he places it onto his desk and gestures for me to stand.

"A fine job, Yūichi. It seems even with all that has happened you are still able to perform to the peak of your abilities," Lord Third remarks, relighting his pipe. "I have something I'd like to ask you, if you'll indulge me."

"Of course, Lord Third, I cannot refuse you." I reply.

"You mistake me, this is not a village matter. I am asking you as a friend, not the Hokage," Lord Third explains, standing and holding his hand out towards me. "Why do you continue to serve in ANBU, even after Minato released you?"

I was in shock, I didn't realise Hiruzen had heard Minato. Yet he still allows me to stay in ANBU even after my ordered release.

"So you heard Minato release me? Well, I'm sorry for hiding it, Lord Third, but I didn't want the free time that came with being out of ANBU." I clarify to him, accepting his hand and standing up.

"I see, then I shall allow you to serve, but next time, Yūichi, don't lie to me. You're lucky it was me and not someone else, or you'd be marked a traitor," Lord Third reinforces, turning to his desk to grab an unopened mission scroll. "Here, something to keep you busy. It's a simple assassination mission, you're team is assembling at the barracks. Meet them there as soon as you are able."

"Yes, Lord Third." I answer, taking the scroll and leaving the office.

* * *

The next few months were the same, accepting any mission I could get. I'm worn out by the constant missions, but I cannot allow myself to dwell on my grief. The village's wounds from the Nine-Tails attack were showing signs of healing. Most, if not all, of the physical damage to the village was repaired, but the psychological healing is still taking place.

Hiruzen had forced me to take a day off, one I had begged for him not to saddle me with, however he wouldn't have it. I woke in a cold sweat in the ANBU barracks located above Hokage Rock, my fellow ANBU-nin watching over me.

"You okay there, Wolf?" the ANBU-nin asks me, hovering over me with a concerned look on her face.

"Yeah I'm good, Panther," I reply, sitting up in my bed. "A bad dream, nothing more."

"Are you sure? You were thrashing about rather violently. I'm guessing this is one of the reasons Lord Third ordered you to take a day off." Panther voices, grabbing a warm cloth from my bedside and handing it to me.

"One of them yes…" I begin, stopping myself before my repressed grief surfaces. "Is there a mission I can tag along on?"

"Well, my mission is to keep you in the village, so… no." Panther answers me, averting her gaze as she knows I don't want to be held up here.

"You've got to be kidding me! Lord Third really wants me to take a break doesn't he?" I state rhetorically, getting myself out of bed.

"Would I lie to you? Anyway, as I'm assigned to you all day, what do you intend to do?" Panther inquires, walking over to her bunk and dressing in her jōnin attire.

"I guess I'll go and check on my family, I haven't seen them in a while," I mention, donning a similar attire as Panther. "While we're out today, it's best to use our given names."

"Got it, Yū-chan." She replies, now finished dressing and waiting by the window next to my bunk, watching me finish donning my gear.

"Will you not call me Yū-chan, Tsuneko?" I quip.

"Nope." She quickly jumps out of the window before I can argue.

"Fu..." I start, but stop after I realize I lost. "Women..."

"Come on, Yū-chan!" Tsuneko shouts from outside the window, goading me further.

"Oh for the love of the Sage, I'm coming!" I acquiesce, leaping out the window in pursuit.

* * *

Tsuneko flew across the rooftops, turning every so often to provoke me further. I was following behind with a decent gap between us. After a minute of chasing, I drop off of a building while she was distracted, teleporting myself to my Clan's front door way ahead of her. A few more minutes pass, before a rather angry Tsuneko lands beside me.

"That's a cheap trick, Yū-chan." She moans, piercing my soul with her glare.

"It's your fault for being slow, Neko-chan." I say sarcastically.

"Don't call me that in public, idiot." She returns, now choosing to ignore me and knocking on the door.

A brief wait follows before my father opens the door to greet his guests.

"Ah, Yūichi, you've come home. It's been awhile, we had wondered when we would see you again, and you brought a friend with you too," My Tou-san begins, ushering us in. "Your mother is in the lounge with the baby Naruto."

"It's good to see you, Tou-san, it has been awhile hasn't it. This is Neko-chan, and as you said she's a friend of mine." I greet, introducing Tsuneko.

"It's nice to meet you, Mizuno-san." Tsuneko slightly bows, glaring at me the entire time.

"Well come in then." Tou-san ushers us into the manor and points to the lounge instinctively.

I walk through the house, making my way to the lounge with Tsuneko in tow. She kept very quiet, as she normally does when in company. I approach the door, slide it open and greet my mother.

"Morning, Kaa-san." I voice softly, walking over to a chair, sitting down.

"Yūichi? It's been awhile hasn't it," My Kaa-san greets me, a huge smile adorning her face while holding Naruto. "How have you been?"

"I've been better if I'm honest, Kaa-san, but I'll be fine. How have you and Tou-san been?" I inquire, hiding my true feelings.

"Well, it's been rather busy around here, Naruto takes a lot of looking after. Your Tou-san has been helping Lord Third around the village, doing what, I don't know," Kaa-san lists, all while caressing Naruto. "Considering all that, we've been good. Oh, I mustn't forget you brought a friend with you, I'm Mizuno Yuki. The man who let you in is Mizuno Masaru, my husband."

"It's nice to meet you, I'm Hanamura Tsuneko." Tsuneko returns, bowing formally.

The next few minutes were plagued by silence, neither myself, Tsuneko or my Kaa-san knew what to say to each other. It has been so long since I was last here, not even keeping them updated on how, or what I was doing. I feel tension, not something an outsider would feel, but something I remembered from a young age. Like mother yelling. Tsuneko was out of her element, she's never been one for personal matters, keeping to herself. She only came with me because she was ordered to keep me in the village.

"How's Naruto been?" I voice, clinging onto whatever came into my mind.

"He's been well, as I said he's a lot of work, but that's because he's a newborn." Kaa-san replies, getting up and walking to the crib at the other side of her chair.

"Good." Is all I can muster in return, my home no longer feeling like it is one.

Again the conversation dies out. Maybe they took the news as bad as I did, and this is how they are coping. I guess not hearing from me made it worse, believing they could have lost their son as well. I pushed myself into my work, but I thought they would understand and not worry. I must have been wrong, I need to get out of here and collect myself.

"I must be going Kaa-san." I force out, not wanting to to face my realizations.

She doesn't respond, just looks plainly at Naruto in his crib. I stand, and begin to leave before she looks at me and mumbles.

"Please come back to us." Barely audible, well to a civilian.

Those five words hit me harder than I expected them to, cutting to my core. Tsuneko tenses up as she too hears the words enter her ears. Our pace increases, walking past my father and out of the manor. We stand outside, my father visibly confused, but before he can ask us anything I turn to Tsuneko.

"We're going to training field seven, hold onto my arm." I bark lightly, preparing to active a seal at the training field.

"Ok...ay." She returns, grabbing onto me.

The second her arm makes contact with mine, we disappear into a time-space dimension, and then appear at the training field.

"That was very tense, not what I expected from your family." Tsuneko lets out, relaxing herself.

"Just drop it," The words leave my mouth, venom laced into each one. "I'm not in the fucking mood."

"Oh come on, Yū-chan, don't be so feisty." Tsuneko tries to calm me by using her patented charm.

"Let's spar, that should shut you up." I snap, creating some distance between us and draw two kunai.

"Can we not, I don't really want to practice on my day off." Tsuneko sassily counters my demand.

"It's my day off, you're on duty, so prepare yourself. If you don't, you'll die." My killing intent lashes out, anger clouding my thoughts.

She sighs, yielding to my order also drawing a kunai. She enters a battle stance, prioritizing defence over offence. This isn't her first spar with me.

"Do we really have to do this, I'll apologize if you really want me too." Tsuneko drops her usual demeanor in favor of her ANBU one.

"You've already pissed me off, we're sparing." I assert, entering my own battle stance.

I launch at Tsuneko, raising the kunai in my right hand ready to slash at her. She responds to the attack, readying her own kunai, blocking the hit, as I had hoped. The kunai in my left hand was suspiciously gone, a fact she only realized as the space around me warped with a red flash. As I launched my attack, I threw the left kunai behind her whilst her attention was on the right.

I reappear behind her holding a Rasengan in my now free right hand, or at least a semi-ready Rasengan. I had dropped the kunai that was in my right hand as I teleported behind her. The next few seconds flew by, as my Rasengan hit her side, launching her away from me into the trees surrounding the area. Tsuneko hit a few trees before landing on her feet, now sprinting back at me, preparing a jutsu. A rather advanced water jutsu.

"So now you intend to actually try. Fine," I mirror her, preparing my own jutsu, "Fire Release: Art of the Phoenix Flower."

I draw a giant breath, exhaling a large quantity of fire all while throwing out a volley of small shuriken. The fire engulfs each of the shuriken, setting them alight. Each of the shuriken continue to their destination, each flying directly at Tsuneko, tracking her movement slightly.

"Water Release: Tearing Torrent!" Tsuneko roars, upon finishing the hand seals.

As they drew closer, Tsuneko raised her left hand forward, a rotating spiral of water swirling in it. Once her arm was fully extended, the water shot towards me. Covering a large area in front of her in the shape of a cone. The flaming shuriken slam into the water torrent, pushing through to reach their destination. The flames all extinguish in the torrent, but the shuriken continue with their speed slightly hampered.

Tsuneko recoils slightly. Doing so forces her jutsu to stop, not expecting the shuriken to continue. The shuriken flew past, her stance now completely open. Each one cuts into her flesh, leaving various degrees of depth in each wound. Whilst she was distracted, I start on the hand seals for another jutsu.

"Shit!" Tsuneko blurts out, grabbing onto her right arm, it had took the majority of the attack.

The cuts leaving her arm useless. Now without the use of her right hand, she can't use any of her jutsus. I could see her contemplating the options available. The skill difference between myself and Tsuneko was too large when I tried.

"Fire Release: Blaze Eruption." I utter, finishing the hand seals and spewing a great amount of fire out of my mouth.

The fire continues to flow out of my month, each flame joining itself to the next. Forming a giant fireball in front of me. It then compresses itself. The moment it finishes forming, it shoots itself towards Tsuneko, leaving no room for error.

"I concede, please stop, Yū-chan." She pleads, falling to her knees.

I hear the words. They repeat themselves in my mind, unclouding the very anger that took control of me. The fireball is almost upon her. I imbue a kunai with wind and fling it towards her. The kunai hits the ground mere seconds before the fireball crashes into her. Fire warping the trees and ground. Burning all present in the tree line.

"That was close. I'd best get you to the hospital," I claim, holding Tsuneko in my arms. "I'm sorry."

The fire bomb was fast, but I was faster. Teleporting myself to Tsuneko and grab her, before teleporting back to the seal I used to get here.

"God you're an ass, I can heal myself you know. Well not while you were trying to kill me, _Yū-chan_." Tsuneko sasses me, cross armed pouting in my arms.

"I said I was sorry." I return, putting her down.

" _After_ you tried to kill me while we were fucking sparing!" She replies, screaming right at my face, well under given our height difference.

"There was no reason to say sorry _before_ ," I quip, sitting myself on the grass and pat on the empty space next to me. "Come on, sit down and heal yourself."

Tsuneko ignores my reply, simply sitting down and beginning to heal her wounds. The next few minutes pass. I move myself to lie down. When she finishes, Tsuneko lays beside me.

"I'm sorry as well, Yū-chan. I didn't realize how angry you were. My _charm_ usually makes you feel better." She jests, turning herself on her side to face me.

"What _charm_? Last time I checked, I was the one with the _charm_." I banter back, watching her scrunch her face at my reply.

"Hah, like you have any _charm_ , mister 'I want to do nothing but go out on mission so I can repress my feelings and force those who care about me to worry'." Tsuneko says cheekily, acting out her impression of me.

"I guess you're right, I only thought of myself and not those around me," I open up, my jovial tone now gone. "I'm sorry if I've ever made you worry while out on a mission, Tsuneko."

"You idiot." Is all she can say in return, turning away from me.

"You might be right about that." I finish, drifting off into a light sleep.

* * *

I awoke after the entire day had passed before my unconscious body. Tsuneko was laid next to me, closer then before I fell asleep. She was still out of it, sleeping rather heavily for a ninja.

"Tsuneko… It's about time we got back to the barracks." I nudge her awake, watching as she drowsily get's herself up.

"How long have we been here?" She asks,wiping the dust from her eyes.

"The entire day it seems. I need to get back and get ready. My day off is finally over." I voice, getting myself up as well.

"I guess you didn't enjoy today?" Tsuneko asks, seemingly nervous.

"It wasn't the best day of my life, I'll admit, but it's a damn sight better than the last few months have been. Your company sure helps," I admit, checking myself over.

"Well, let's get back to the barracks then." Tsuneko chirps, a bright smile adorning her face.

One she's trying to hide.

"Grab onto me so I can teleport us, I really want to get back so I can prepare to leave." I announce, readying my seal.

"Okay." She returns, grabbing my arm.

The moment her arm touches me, the space around us warps with a crimson flash. The barracks appears around us, various other ANBU-nin readying themselves, undressing or lying asleep. The barracks was busy tonight. It seems that my return was good timing. I grab my gear, undressing from my standard jōnin attire and donning my ANBU gear and mask.

"Hey, Wolf, where were you today? Not like you to have a day off." Fox inquires, walking over to my bunk.

"Orders of Lord Third, I would of been on a mission if I had a choice." I reply, finishing my preparations.

"I take it you're off to the Hokage's office to request a mission," Fox states, before coming closer to ask. "Were you with Panther all day?"

"I was, why?" I answer in a hushed tone.

"No reason. We've got a couple of slots on our mission if you want to tag along." Fox mentions, pulling himself away from me.

"What's the mission?" I query, grabbing one of my ninjatō's from my bunk and placing it on my lower back.

"A simple assassination mission, a noble has been stirring up some shit. We've been hired to put the cunt down. The only problem is the missing-nin guarding him." Fox elaborates.

"So the typical, young noble doing whatever the fuck he wants, thinking he can get away with it?" I joke.

"That's the one." Owl joins the conversation.

"Then I can't wait," I accept their offer. "You coming too, Panther?"

"Why not, you idiots always end up getting hurt." Panther quips, placing her mask onto her face.

"Then, we'd best head off. It's a long trip to The Land of Frost," Bear orders, the captain of our team. "Form up at point Beta."

"Got it." We all say in unison, each making their own way to the meet up point.


	5. Chapter V: Descent III

TangentTwo: One? Where'd you go?

TangentOne: …

TangentTwo: Oh dear Almighty Tangent! Where did One go?!

TangentOne: Calm yourself, Two. I'm just trying to avoid a hurricane.

TangentTwo: You can teleport, One.

TangentOne: Don't you dare make me out to be the stupid one.

TangentTwo: Your fault, dunderhead!

* * *

The others each left before me. I chose to linger a few minutes longer to finish collecting my gear and any equipment I may need for the mission, and a few thoughts raced through my mind. The first being; why hasn't Lord Danzō come to ask me to confirm my transfer to his division? He said he would be back within a few weeks. Which strikes me as odd, since It's been over three months since that night.

The second thought is that of the confrontation with the masked man. I'm still unsure if Minato was right, my gut says he isn't. Madara would be over a hundred years old, I doubt someone as old as that would be able to move as well as the man did. Also it's said he was killed by the First Hokage, Senju Hashirama. I doubt he would be in any state to fight even if he survived.

 _I'll investigate both of these thoughts when I return._

I pick up the last of my gear, place it into my waist pouch and leap out of the window. I launch myself across the rooftops, hitting each roof once to minimize the sound of my footsteps and time to reach the meeting point. I land next to Panther once I reach point Beta, standing to attention, waiting for Bear to start the full briefing. The trip to point Beta took around twelve minutes, as it was a point set outside of Konoha.

"Good, you took your time, Wolf. Anyway, the mission at hand is, as you all know, an assassination mission. The target is a golden spoon suckling noble called, Kamika Jin," Bear starts, using his patented insults to liven the mission up. "The noble in question is, well, not really a noble. He's more the son of a very rich merchant who bought his way to the top of a town in The Land of Frost. So the missing-nin, well the information details them as such, guarding him are of A-rank, so nothing to sneeze at."

"What do you mean 'well the information details them as such'? Are you saying we could encounter another village's ninja guarding this sorry fuck?" Fox queries, scratching the back of his head.

"We could, yes. Though I highly doubt it, given what the idiot's doing. Killing civilians for looking at him or as small as talking near him. Money's gone to his head, as he's been covering the vast amount of his murders," Bear returns. "Even the other villages wouldn't touch a protection mission, with this shitbag as the target."

"So what if there are other villages? We've dealt with worse and lived." I pipe up confidently.

"Only because you plan about five steps ahead, and the fact you can _teleport_. It's still best we discus the likelihood." Owl chimes in, accurately detailing how I deal with team missions.

"You have a point, I'll concede. One thing, I have a prototype seal I want you guys to keep on you, should save your lives." I say, taking out my new seals.

The seals themselves don't do anything, they are merely an adaptation of my Flying Thunder God seal. The real difference is that I can use them to teleport the holder to one of my Flying Thunder God Seals. But it's only a prototype so hopefully I don't have to use it.

"Make sure to place it onto yourselves, or it won't work." I add.

"The hell does it do?" Fox inquires, while the rest of the team place them onto their arms, then covering it with bandages.

"Save your life, but more a more detailed explanation is, it will teleport you away from harm upon my order." I quickly explain.

"Wait you can really do that?" Panther asks with bewilderment.

"A Seal Master can do much more than this, a seal such as this is a simple matter to someone like Wolf. He was trained by the Yellow Flash, Lord Fourth, himself in the ways of fūinjutsu. Hell most seals masters could more than likely do it. Just be glad he's on our side." Owl states easily.

"You got a point there, fine, I'll put it on." Fox acquiesces.

"You all ready then? It's time we left." Bear questions, readying himself to leave.

"Yeah." We all say in unison, following Bear as he leaps into the tree line to lead the way to The Land of Frost.

* * *

The journey to the land of Frost was rather uneventful, to an ANBU. It should take us about two days, at ninja speed. While not hailed as the fastest team in Konoha, we're still regarded as a team that finishes the job early due to our speed. We decide to stop outside of the border of the Land of Frost, in the Land of Hot Water. Our team had been running non-stop since Konoha and needed a rest. We stop in a small clearing in the vast forests.

"Fucking… hell. Why… the… fuck… did we... run the entire... distance." Fox tried to say with laboured breath.

"Because we needed to, you're lucky we stopped now instead of continuing." Bear asserts simply.

"I must agree with, Fox, we didn't have to. _You_ wanted to." Owl mentions, breathing noticeably hard.

"Last time I checked, I was the captain for this mission." Bear states, I half expect a cheeky grin beneath his mask.

"There's no point arguing, Owl, it never ends well for us." I remind him.

Bear looks towards me, his aura radiating an overly jovial feel. He knows he's won, yet at least he concedes to spending the night here resting.

"Owl and Fox, set up the perimeter. Panther and Wolf, set up the camp. I'll scout the surroundings," Bear orders. "We'll have four hour guard shifts, one person per shift."

"Thank the Sage." Fox says, guesting to Owl to begin their job.

"Wolf, come here for a moment." Bear signals me over to his side.

"Yes, Bear?" I query.

"Lay your perimeter seals when you're on guard. You'll have first shift so it'll make the night a lot safer for us." Bear commands, with a friendly tone.

"Sounds good, but remember we'll need to burn them tomorrow. I'll lay eight in a octagon shape around the camp." I remark, before going back to Panther to help set up the camp.

"Okay, I'll get onto my job then." Bear finishes, leaping back into the trees.

The next hour was dedicated to preparing the camp and then starting the guard rotations for the night. In the morning it'll be like we were never here.

* * *

The Land of Frost, a really cold place. Not as bad as the Land of Snow, but it's up there. We set off from our camp in the Land of Hot Water very early. Destroying the seals I placed and running at full speed to this town run by our targets father, Kamika Junki. The town was near the northern border of The Land of Frost, next to the Land of Lightning.

 _Which begs the question why were we contracted for this mission?_

I push the thoughts out of my mind as we all came to a halt, outside the town.

"Well we're here. It won't be hard to find the target, the real issue, as we discussed, is his bodyguards." Bear reiterates, flexing his sensory range.

"How large is the town?" Owl wonders, also flexing his sensory abilities.

"It's rather large, a few thousand civilians live here, along with the town guard forces. The only real unknown is the extremely large district near the middle. The Kamika district." Bear relays to Owl.

"Well, how are we going to do this?" I ask.

"There are a few ways, we could use our henge jutsu to infiltrate the Kamika district. We could simply wait and catch him outside of town. Either will work, do you lot have any preferences?" Bear opens the discussion.

"How about a bait and kill?" I offer up.

"Who would you use as bait to start. Also why would they follow you?" Fox quickly queries after I finish.

"Well, given he has such a short temper, the latter part is easy. The former part well, I'd go myself. I'm the fastest and I can teleport if it's starts to become a problem." I answer him swiftly.

"Get going then, we'll lay a trap here for when you bring them." Bear orders.

"One last thing to do, here," I hand a seal to Bear. "Place this in the center of your trap, I may be able to teleport some of his guards or the target himself here, cut's down on the need to fight."

"Sounds good." Bear accepts.

I was about to leave before Panther came up to me and silently tells me something.

"Don't get yourself killed, I need you." Panther whispers.

"I'll be fine, don't worry." I reply, sprinting towards the city.

* * *

On my way towards the town I plan on how to bait the target. I decide I need to incapacitate a guard, and use my henge jutsu to transform myself to look like them. It's a textbook entry, but it's textbook for a reason. Baiting might pose a slight problem.

Two guards are posted on the main entrance to the town. There's no wall to protect the town, so they seem to have made up for it by tripling the amount of guards patrolling the perimeter. The guards themselves are equipped with flak jacket, resembling the ninja from this lands hidden village. The real difference is the weapons they carry. Their guards have a set of daishō, with a few throwing daggers on their side.

 _Throwing daggers, a crude version of a kunai._

"Well, this will prove to be more fun than I had thought." I say to myself, a grin conquering my features.

I place my hand into my pouch, pulling out a kunai with an explosive tag attached. I begin to push my wind chakra into it, readying it to be thrown a good distance. I wait for the guards to wander into a perfect spot for the kunai to pass unnoticed. The kunai target is the guard post building behind them. As both guards look away, I launch the kunai, watching it fly past them and strike the building. Fifteen seconds pass. A large explosion follows, decimating the building, catching the attention of both of the guards at the entrance.

More guards start making their way towards the guard post, flames now licking the wood greedily. I observe their actions, waiting for one to be alone. It doesn't take long to catch one, throwing a marked kunai towards him. I teleport to him before swiftly drawing my ninjatō and slicing his throat. Just as swiftly as I draw it, I sheath my ninjatō.

"Henge Jutsu." I quickly perform the hand seals and transform myself into a flawless copy of the guard.

Once the chakra smoke disperses, I make my way to the guard station, playing my role to it's fullest. I limit myself, to running along the ground at a normal pace. The guard I killed was around two minutes away from the guard post. Leaving me time to mask my voice.

"What the hell happened here?" A guard shouts out., looking at the raging fire.

"No clue, one second it was fine. We look away once and it blows up." Another guards returns.

"We must inform Lord Junki immediately!" A third guard orders.

"I'll go." I announce, arriving a few moments before he asks.

"Good, tell him we're under attack. Use the code, 'FrozenFront' to get past the main gate." The guard replies.

"Got it." I say, heading towards the Kamika district.

The run to the Kamika district took me awhile. Running at a civilian pace is rather annoying when I know I could've got there and back by the time I'm halfway there. I spend over thirty minutes running to the Kamika district, and as I arrive a ninja drops from the wall surrounding the district.

"The password?" He bluntly asks.

"'FrozenFront'." I answer.

"What's the issue?" He questions.

"There was an explosion at the main entrance's guard post. I was told to inform Lord Junki immediately." I return.

The ninja looks me over. I return the look, keeping my true intentions hidden. After a second he pulls out a kunai and throws it at me. Barely grazing my left arm. I hold onto my arm where the kunai passes. My henge holds tight.

"You pass," He tells me, before ordering the gate open. "Open the gate."

 _It seems this is one of the A-rank ninja in question. I should've expected the entire family to have missing-nin bodyguards._

The grate drags open. The might of ten men is what it takes to open, even then it's at a snail's pace. The shinobi never takes his gaze off of me, a wise choice. No headband or village identifier was visible, either he's a complete missing-nin or he's discarded it.

"I'll escort you to the Lord." The ninja shouts towards me jumping down to me.

"Yes, sir." I respond, acting the guard perfectly.

The shinobi walks past me, at a very casual pace. He's paid to keep them alive, not care about their town, and it really shows. Disdain seeps from him. It's almost like he can't keep his killing intent at bay. If I was a half bit ninja I would of guessed he was aiming it at me, but it's not aimed anywhere, it's just leaking out.

A brisk walk and we come to a large manor. Gold engravings adorn all faces of the manor, shining brighter than this town's economy. Tall windows, tinted black, lined the floors up towards the fourth floor. A logo hung above the door, an old ryō coin, it too embellished with more gold than half of the town owns. The ninja knocks on the manors colossal door.

"Lord Junki, one of your useless guards are here to see you," He shouts, before turning to face me. "Wait here till he answers. You move you die, got it?"

"Yes." I reply.

The ninja wanders off, leaving me alone. The door in front of me swung open. A rather short man appears. The man himself had golden hair, complete with a long beard. He wore a long golden robe, the length of it reaching the floor. It was Junki.

"What's the problem, guard?" Junki inquires, looking straight at me.

"There was an explosion at the guard post, next to the main entrance," I answer promptly. "I was sent to notify you."

"Sound the alarm," Junki shouts towards another guard present. "You did a good job bringing this to me, please get my son, Jin. Ask him to mobilise his bodyguards, as I will mine. He's in the tavern district. Oh and do try to be as formal as possible with Jin, he's not the best with people."

"Yes, Lord Junki." I say, turning on my heels and running out of the main gate again.

 _Well, this just got rather interesting._

* * *

Running to the tavern district was a long run. Shorter than my run from the outskirts to the Kamika district, but still it was a pain.

"Next time remind me not to offer myself as fucking _bait_." I mumble to myself, running towards the largest tavern.

I crash through the doors, looking around for someone who resembles Junki. Which did not take long, as a huge man was sat on the bar, with around four civilians knelt before him. Each one was bound by rope, a bag over their heads.

"Well, well, well. You four thought it wise to mock me, and look where it got you. Bound on the floor of a tavern, your lives in my hands." The huge man laughs to himself, holding his hand up above him.

"Lord Jin, shall we execute the scum?" A ninja asks, flanking the man.

"Hmmm, each time I lower my arm, kill one." The man tells the ninja, a maniacal grin adorning his oversized head.

I stay in the doorway, watching as this piece of shit has his way with the people of this village. For each second passes, I get closer to deciding to say, fuck it, and send the scum to the trap via seal. Either way, his bodyguards will more then likely be able to find him.

I have two options. The first one, allow the slaughter, letting the target get away with another crime before sending him away, and killing him. The second, send him away now, risking my life as I don't know how many ninja are present here.

"Lord Jin, before we get to the game, a guard is watching from the doorway, it seems he's waiting to deliver a message to you." A second ninja points out.

"Hm? Ah, guard-san, come here. Give me whatever message you have." The supposed Jin orders.

I enter, walking over to him. I can feel around five sets of killing intent focused on me.

 _So five ninja present, I should be able to get this idiot out of here without getting myself killed._

"Lord Jin, This message is for you. Lord Junki has asked you to order your men into battle. An enemy has destroyed the main entrance Guard post." I relay the message.

"Damn, and here I was having fun. No matter, thank you guard-san. Well you heard him, search the city, and bring me their heads!" He roars, anger taking over his face.

All of the ninja present, charge out of the door, leaving the tavern empty of any chakra. Lucky for me.

"Lord Jin, one more thing, Lord Junki has asked you to place this seal onto you, it'll let your bodyguards know if anyone with chakra enters a hundred metre radius of you." I say holding out the seal.

 _Take it you prick._

"Ah good," He places it onto his arm. "Is that all? I have some scoundrels to kill."

"No, it isn't," I say, my true form showing as my henge slowly disperses. "You're coming with me."

"Like hell I am! Thanks to this seal my men will be back any second." He shouts, thinking he's won.

"I gave you the seal, you utter nancy." I state, preparing to send him into the trap.

I teleport myself and Jin to the rest of my team. The space around each of us lights up with a crimson flash. After a second we were no longer there.

* * *

We arrive at the trap, standing before four figures hidden in the trees.

"About time Wolf, I see you brought the target." Bear says nonchalantly from the trees above.

"Welcome, Kamika Jin, to your funeral." Fox states calmly.

"Try not to scream too much, we don't want your bodyguards to find you until we're finished." Owl chimes in next, as calm as the last two.

"If you could not scream at all, that would be preferable." Panther echoes Owls point.

I launch myself into the tree line to join my team mates. I jump next to Owl, close enough to tell him something. Jin fell to his knees before us, screaming for mercy.

"Owl, maximise you're sensory range. This was too easy." I remark.

"You were gone for over two hours." Owl tells me.

"You try acting like a town guard, you can't run at full speed. It's a pain. That's not the problem, I feel like they let me take him. We should expect an attack within the next ten minutes." I say.

"Inform the others." Owl orders, focusing on his sensory duties.

I leap from branch to branch, informing each of my teammates one by one. Each readying themselves for combat. After I tell the last one I jump behind Jin and unsheath my ninjatō and hold it to his throat.

"Well, Jin, any last words?" I ask, cutting into his throat slightly.

"Only one... Now!" Jin roars into the treeline.

As soon as the words begin to echo, five ninja leap out of the trees. Each one takes a position behind each of my team.

"Well, That was rather smart. It's a shame my teammates are no longer here." I observe, as chakra smoke puffs where each where stood.

"You've left yourself alone and vulnerable." The ninja behind me says, drawing a kunai.

He lunges the moment he fully draws the kunai, aiming to pierce my kidney for a swift kill. With a second to spare I jump upwards and with a backflip landing just behind him. I stand swiftly and kick him into the target, allowing his kunai to deal the killing blow to Jin, piercing his kidney instead of mine. Jin let's out a cry of agony before falling limp onto the ground, blood pooling around him. I active the seals I gave to each of my teammates. Allowing them to appear behind me. Each now readying themselves to face the A-rank missing-nin before us.


	6. Chapter VI: Descent IV

TangentTwo: I'm swinging me ninjatō around mate!

TangentOne: What?

TangentTwo: I can't fuckin stop mate! It's spinning so fast!

TangentOne: I want to know, but at the same time, I don't.

TangentTwo: Oh fuck! It's spinnin so fast I've turned into a helicopter!

* * *

"Looks like you failed to protect your charge. That makes you some pretty shitty ninja, you even had the jump on us and failed." I mention provokingly, swinging my ninjatō around.

"Wolf, even you know not to provoke such horrible ninja." Panther chastises me, while ridiculing them too.

"Enough! How dare you mock us, we are the feared missing-nin group, The Veiled Rock." One of the ninja shouts, jumping down beside his teammate.

The rest follow suit. We stand opposite each other, none making a move, all of us waiting for one person to make a move.

"The Veiled Rock, eh? Sounds kind of lame if I'm honest." Fox blurts out.

"For once, Fox, you're right." Bear reluctantly agrees.

Once Bear finishes talking, a large earth wall shoots up from the ground, splitting the stand off up.

"Well, looks like it's time. Wolf, melt the wall." Bear orders.

"Got it," I say, flying through hand seals. "Fire release: Blazing Rasengan."

I hold my arm up, allowing a ball of chakra to gather. I spin the chakra, faster and faster with each millisecond. The Rasengan took only a moment to prepare, and as it finishes fire starts erupting from it. I hold my arm out to my side, and begin charging at the wall. I draw close extremely fast, barely a second passed before I plunged the Rasengan into the wall. The fire melting the earth as fast as the wall was formed.

"Water Release: Water Bullet." Panther mutters upon finishing her hand seals.

Small shards of water begin to form around Panther, each as sharp as recently sharpened steel. Around fifty of the shards appear, before they all launch themselves through the hole in the wall my jutsu made. More shards continue to form, each taking turns to fire in groups.

"Keep the hole pinned down, Panther, we'll flank." Bear strategizes.

"Got it." Panther replies, keeping her jutsu active.

Fox nods towards me, a symbol that he's flanking left with me. I sheath my ninjatō and pull out a few kunai, littering the field with them, before pulling out a final one and arming myself with it. I nod back once I'm done.

"Now!" A voice roars, as mist begins to cover the clearing.

As the mist comes, a few death rattles are heard. They sound familiar to me, but my job takes precedence. The mist left as soon as it came, revealing both Bear and Owl lying face down in pools of blood.

"Fuck!" I shout, anger now beginning to take control.

"This is why you don't insult us!" One of the ninja mimics my provoking.

I look at him, my gaze now piercing through him, my killing intent radiating out to such extents that Fox finds it hard to breath while next to me. Panther's jutsu fails as she too notices the bodies of our captain and sensor.

"I've lost enough already, you'll not take anyone else from me!" I howl like a wounded wolf would.

I fly through hand seals, spitting fireballs at the ninjas. After each fireball I teleport to another kunai, with such speed it looks like they're surrounded by continuous fireballs. After a minute, the barrage ends, only three still stand. With one on his knees, badly injured. The last one lying dead., burnt to ash. The three ninja now scattered around the clearing each begin an assault on my remaining team.

"He's a fucking mad man." One of the ninja shouts to one of his peers.

"A mad man with a decent amount of chakra to boot." The second shinobi returns.

"Wind release: Vacuum Blade!" I announce, channeling a large amount of chakra into my kunai, creating a blade of wind.

I launch slashes in the direction of one of the ninja, the air waves flying at them. The waves themselves razor sharp. The shinobi starts dodging each wave, using the trees and remainder of the earth wall to try and get closer. The waves cutting down everything in their path, felling tree after tree until they disperse.

Whenever one of the ninja got close, I'd teleport myself to another one of my kunai. Always staying just out of their reach. Even their jutsu were unable to land a hit on me. This continues for ten minutes before both them and I were running low on chakra.

"Fuck... I… can't keep… this up… any longer." The first ninja voices while panting.

"You and me… both." The second replies.

The third ninja faints before he could join the conversation. Fox and Panther were both still looking at the now two versus one standoff before them. Both surprised at my sudden burst of anger.

"Fuck this, I've had enough of you puny shinobi. None of you are worth my time, so I'll burn you all to ash! Say your prayers to whoever will listen," I roar at the now white faced ninja, disdain laced into each word and my aura now filled with nothing but anger. Flying through hand seals at an alarming rate. "Fire Release: True Hydra Technique."

I gather all the remaining chakra I can muster into my lungs, breathing in heavily. The next moment I exhale it all. A fireball of house sized proportions shoots out of my mouth, filling the space between myself and the two standing ninjas. Three heads start to emerge from the fireball as it contorts itself into a three headed dragon, a Hydra.

For a moment it stood, fully formed before the now shaking shinobi. None of them seem to have seen a jutsu of this level, S-rank. Even I knew it was a last resort, because I couldn't do it more than once. The Hydra stands at over twenty feet tall, rather small for this jutsu but still enough to cause large devastation.

The Hydra launches itself at the remaining ninja, fulminating as it comes into contact. The clearing no longer a clearing and now a pit of raging flames. I teleport myself a moment before the explosion and upon escaping the blast, faint from my overuse of chakra.

* * *

I wake, after what seems like a few hours, to Fox standing over me. Panther was knelt beside me, using her healing jutsu to keep me stable. Both noticeably on edge. The bodies of Owl and Bear laying next to me. I try to recall the events after I used my greatest jutsu, yet I couldn't. It was just a blur, I don't even know if I killed them.

"Did we get the fucks who killed Bear and Owl?" I ask, not directing it to anyone in particular.

"I wouldn't say 'we', it was more of a slaughter that you caused. You gave the fuckers what they deserved," Fox informs me. "Bear and Owl should've had better deaths, better than some half assed missing-nins could've given them."

Fox spits onto the ground next to him once he finishes his comment. Panther doesn't move, simply continuing to heal me. Not that I'm wounded.

"At least the cunts are dead." I return, closing my eyes.

"You could of died! They were our teammates too, control yourself." Panther chastises me, using her harshest tone.

"I could of, but Bear and Owl did! I only did what was right, nothing more," I retort, dragging myself to my feet. "We got proof of the kill?"

"Luckily, yeah." Fox answers, holding a storage scroll.

"Then let's prepare to leave. I'll place both Bear and Owl into a storage scroll, so we can burn and bury them at home." I say, pulling out two storage scrolls.

Placing the bodies into the scrolls was a rather short task, taking only a few moments. I finish my task before Fox walks over to me, an aura of worry still plaguing him.

"There a problem, Fox?" I inquire.

"You tell me, the fuck overcame you?" Fox demands to know, placing his hand onto my shoulder.

"I wish I knew, everything is just a blur." I reply, trying to put together a visual in my mind.

"Look, I know you've had a lot of shit to deal with the last few months, but you need to tell me it's not going to be a problem for us." Fox states, tightening his grip.

"I honestly don't know." I truthfully return, my head sinking.

"When we return to home, you, Lord Third and I are going to have a talk about this. You need some help," Fox explains, releasing his grip and readying himself to leave. "Let's get going, it's a long trip home."

"Let's." Panther replies, readying herself as well.

The three of us launch ourselves into the tree line and head for Konoha. Fox taking the lead, me at the rear and Panther in the middle. The trip to Konoha was very tense, Fox still pinning me with his sole focus. Leaving myself and Panther to ensure we were safe at all times. Something I think Fox intended, leaving room to ensure I don't black out again.

* * *

We arrive at Konoha around midday. We land in front of a secret ANBU entrance, to the rear of the village. We unlock the seal keeping the entrance shut tight, entering and then releasing the door.

"Panther, you're dismissed, Wolf and I will inform the Hokage of our missions success and setbacks." Fox informs Panther.

"Are you sure? I thought it would need to be all of us." Panther answers.

"I'll sure it'll be fine, either way you won't be in the wrong, it'll be me." Fox confirms before walking of to the Hokage office, down the many tunnels under Konoha.

The tunnels themselves are linked to all major points in the village and all ANBU locations. A few barracks are above Hokage rock, blended into the village, the rest are below the village. We make good time to Hiruzen's office, saying nothing along the way. We approach the door, knocking and waiting for permission to enter.

"Come in." Lord Third calls out.

We comply, entering and then kneeling before our Kage. Waiting for him to ask for our report.

"Where is the rest of your team?" Lord Third asks, a hint of worry on his face.

"Two of them died in battle, the last is in the barracks. I told her that she could skip the debriefing as I have a matter to talk to you about. One which she cannot be privy to, given her connections to the subject matter." Fox explains, all while keeping his head down.

"Then please elaborate on the subject, the report can wait a few minutes."Lord Third orders, dropping his paperwork back onto the desk.

"Well," Fox lets out, standing himself up. "The subject is Wolf."

Hiruzen's eyebrow perks up. He is now more noticeable intrigued then he was before.

"What about him?" Lord Third asks.

"I believe him to be unstable and unfit for further service without observation." Fox goes into more detail.

"What do you think, Wolf? This is you we are talking about." Lord Third states, bringing me into the conversation.

"I don't know, Lord Third. I believe there is some merits to his statement, other than my being unstable. I just reacted badly to the situation at the time." I answer.

"What situation? I'm guessing this is part of your recent mission?" Lord Third queries.

"Yes, Lord Third." Fox responds.

Fox reads off the report, detailing everything that took place in the Land of Frost. He left no detail out, things even I was unaware of during my blackout.

"I see, Fox please leave us, you may return to the barracks. I'll deal with this issue." Lord Third dismisses Fox, turning his full attention to me.

"Yes, Lord Third." Fox says, bowing and leaving the office.

Hiruzen waits, making sure he could no longer sense any trace of Fox before beginning to spill his thought.

"This is the second time you've blacked out, or should I say consumed by anger," Lord Third details. "I can't have this becoming a regular occurance, so for now I'm transferring you to Jōnin-sensei. You'll need to report to the Academy tomorrow, and before you ask I have a house ready for you to live in."

"Lord Third, please don't do this to me. If I'm unfit for ANBU, how is making me a Jōnin-sensei any better?" I try to argue my case.

"You are not unfit for ANBU, quite the opposite my boy. You're too grief stricken for ANBU, I can't in good conscious leave you there while you are going through this grief." Lord Third ensures me.

"I guess I have no choice, I'll report to the Academy as requested." I accept my reassignment, lamenting on all the free time I now have.

"It's only temporary, until you are in a better frame of mind." Lord Third reassures me, pointing to a key on his desk.

I pick up the key, reading the label on it. It's near the Uchiha District. A hotspot of anger.

 _This is either a sick joke or ironic fate._

"Yes, Lord Third." I say, bowing and leaving the office like Fox before me.

Grief now the last thing on my mind. Anger and utter resentment for Hiruzen now occupy the majority of my thoughts. I leave for the ANBU barracks, travelling on the ninja highway with blistering speed. I arrive at the barracks, launch myself through the window and begin packing my things.

"Wolf, what are you doing?" Panther wonders, a look of deep confusion adoring her face.

"Packing, I've been reassigned to Jōnin-sensei." I quickly explain.

"Wait, what?" She shouts, shattering the hearing of all those in the barracks.

"Lord Third has ordered me to become a Jōnin-sensei, so I'm packing and moving myself to my new house." I clarify, leaving much of the detail out.

 _She doesn't need to know the rest._

"Why?" She follows up, trying to pry the information from me.

"Honestly, I don't fucking know. It's pissing me off." I return, letting a small amount of my anger out.

Panther doesn't respond, she's learned not to push me when I'm angry. I finish packing, throwing the bag over my shoulder. I walk to the exit before turning to face her.

"I'll be back soon, so keep my bed empty." I say, trying to reassure her that it's not permanent, hiding my anger again.

I then turn to leave, making my way to my new home.

* * *

My new home, only a five minute walk from the Uchiha District, the home of the notoriously hostile Uchiha Clan. The house itself was a decent size, a single floor, two roomed apartment. I open the door to examine the interior, then I check the rooms for foul play before I set up my own countermeasures.

As I finish, I sit myself onto the floor and pull out my seal supplies. An ink brush, seal paper and a pot of ink. I start the process of making four different seals, one for each of the ways into the house. Every door and window will get one. The seals themselves each serve a different purpose.

The first one will detect anyone entering any of the entrances, even if they are aware of their chakra or not. The second is for people who have chakra of any amount. The third detects a high amount of chakra passing the seal. The last one is a flash seal, which will go off if all three of the other seals activate. Which will give me time to react. After a hour or so, the job was done and I stood myself up.

"Well I guess this is my life for now." I sigh.

As the sigh leaves my lips, my fists acts on it's own. Slamming itself into the door, splintering the door down the center. Sweat starts to drip down my brow, anger protruding from my very being. The anger left nearly as quickly as it came, leaving me once again alone in my apartment. I clear up my seal supplies, placing them onto the nearest desk.

I make my way around the house, placing the seals I had just finished making, onto each entrance. Placing them didn't take long. Feeling slightly better now I know my countermeasures were in place, I walk to the bedroom. Entering and lying down, letting myself slip into a deep slumber.

* * *

The next day came. I woke up early, preparing myself for my first day as a Jōnin-sensei. I had never been apart of a genin team myself, let alone be asked to lead one. I was nervous and still filled with resentment. Resentment the night was meant to cure me of.

I dress myself with my jōnin attire. Black long sleeved top, black trousers with black sandals and a standard flak jacket. I place my headband around my head, letting my crimson hair fall around it. My hair covers one side of the headband with spiky strands. Around my right leg was my kunai knife, with my pouch located on my lower back. My trusty ninjatō sat behind it. I also had tucked a few scrolls into my flak jacket, for creating some seals if I needed to.

"I guess I should get to the academy... I think for once I'll walk." I mutter, making my way out of my house.

I walk leisurely to the academy, passing hundreds of civilians on my way. Each making their way to their jobs or performing their jobs. I see other Jōnin making their way to the academy, they too, taking the chance to have a peaceful morning walk. Each walked in a group, each converse with the others.

 _What I'd give for my teammates to be here with me_.

I arrive at the acadamy exactly on time, making my way through the halls to the Hokage office attached to the building. Inside was around fourteen Jōnin, Hiruzen and his aids.

"Ah, Yūichi, glad you made it on time. Now let us get on to business, you all have been selected as the Jōnin-sensei for this graduating class. Each of you will lead a genin team of three. You will first test them and if you find them lacking, send them back to the academy." Lord Third explains.

"Is there any specific areas we are testing them or is it down to us to decide?" A Jōnin in front of me inquires, rather eagerly.

"It's down to your discretion. Just fill out the report with the reasons," Lord Third answers simply. "Any other questions?"

The room was quiet, no one made a sound.

"Good, then you have the day to yourself. The graduation is tomorrow and you'll meet your genin in the rooms that will be listed at the entrance of the Academy," Lord Third finishes dismissing all of his Jōnin. "Yūichi, please wait behind."


	7. Chapter VII: Descent V

TangentTwo: Hiruzen's being a bit of a twat.

TangentOne: He's just doing his job, Two.

TangentTwo: Exactly! He's a twat!

TangentOne: I admit, he's one of the worst guys in Naruto's history. A lot of war crimes, nasty ones too.

TangentTwo: Wait... really?

TangentOne: Yeah, he's a fucking maniac. He used to kill anything without an allied headband just because it moved.

TangentTwo: I like him a lot more now!

* * *

"Yes, Lord Third?" I ask, moving myself to his desk.

"I just wanted to make sure you're doing okay today. I know you didn't take this reassignment very well." Lord Third admits.

"You're right, I didn't take it well, but I'm doing better. I'll do what you ask of me." I affirm, my features saying the opposite.

"Don't lie to me Yūichi, I can read you like a book." Lord Third demands of me, stranding himself upright.

"Fine, I'm a fucking wreck, in ANBU I had no time to worry about it, now it's all I can think of, I've lost most of those close to me. I refuse to lose more. Yet instead of making sure I don't lose anyone else, you have me sat teaching genin!" I shout, anger bubbling to the surface.

"I'm doing this for your own good, you're a kind man. You need to grieve, not repress it!" Lord Third explains with an aura that demands I concede.

I back down, moving myself into a bow, and hold my head low. Arguing with the Hokage is not going to get me back into ANBU, nor will it allow me to protect those close to me. Being in jail is not a place I can do anything, and this is borderline treason to argue like I am.

"Yes, Lord Third, I'll do as you ask, but I wish to ask something of you." I concede, but I refuse to stop protecting the village.

"What is it?" He sighs, sitting himself down again and picking up his pipe.

"Whenever I'm free, you allow me to help with any mission that needs it. Be it an A-rank mission or a B-rank mission." I try to barter with him, pushing our friendship to it's limit.

"If it'll help you become yourself again, I'll call for you whenever you're free." Lord Third agrees, lighting his pipe and puffing on it. "You may leave, be at the academy at ten o'clock sharp."

"Yes, Lord Third." I finish my bow, and leave, walking back to my apartment to ready myself for teaching.

* * *

The next day comes, I am up early, preparing myself. I'm not overly good at teaching, I was only really good at learning. I often found it hard to help my teammates with something they didn't understand but I did. I would normally do it myself. The only thing I could teach well would be fūinjutsu, and that's because of my blood, nothing else. My clan always had great skill with it, and it comes so naturally that parting with the knowledge is also natural to me.

I dress myself, and head for the academy. Today I decide to take the quick route, the ninja highway. Other ninja ran across the rooftops, each head to mission or to other parts of the village. After a few minutes, another Jōnin-sensei fell in step with me, one I recognised from the meeting with Lord Third yesterday. He was the one asking all the questions.

"Morning, Yūichi-san, you looking forward to meeting your genin team?" He asks, the same eagerness present from yesterday.

"Not really, I'm not really a teacher, more of a fighter." I return, much to his dismay.

"Then why are you a Jōnin-sensei? Wouldn't you be best as a normal Jōnin, and sent on missions? Or even be used in ANBU?" The rather short man questions, a look of deep confusion in his eyes.

"Can I ask your name? I like knowing who I'm talking to." I voice, lowering my pace so he can keep up, he's rather slow.

"Oh my name is Kazuo, Fujima Kazuo. I guess you don't remember me from the academy." Kazuo sighs, feeling sorry for himself.

"I don't, sorry, I've had a lot on my mind since then, but you'd be right. I am better suited to being a normal Jōnin or an ANBU." I admit, leaving out my ANBU past.

A few more minutes of idle chatter, much of which I ignored, we arrived at the academy. It was very busy, the graduation was yesterday but the parents of the genin still came to see off their children for the first day of their ninja career. Well for the most of them, some will be back at the academy before the end of the day, another year at the academy waiting for them.

I along with Kazuo, make our way to the sign outside of the academy, looking for the room our genin teams would be in. Most genin were still outside or arriving. I quickly found my name, and left for the room. I made my way to the room, and sat myself at the back of it, waiting for my genin team. I hide my presence and made myself at home, lounging in my chair with my feet on the table. Around twenty two minutes pass before the genin walk into the room, looking around for their sensei.

"Didn't Momo-sensei say our Jōnin-sensei would be here before us?" A girl voices, very confused and looking to her teammates for clarification.

"She did, so where is he?" The other girl answers, slightly taller than the other, she too confused.

The last of the trio looks around, not finding anything out of the ordinary. He moves himself to the first chair he sees and sits down, leaning on the table.

"Well we can't leave until he comes, so you may as well sit down." The boy chimes in, a look of extreme boredom creeping into his features.

"We need to look our best when he arrives, we only have one chance to make a first impression." The first girl states, wiping her clothes down.

"You know it could be a she, I hope it is." The second girl mentions, looking for a role model.

I continue to hide myself. This is their first test, how long until they try to look for me or at least do something productive like train or spar. They wait for another hour, until the taller girl looks directly at the back, and crooks her head.

"I think he's in here." The girl informs her teammates, as they look at her with looks of doubt.

"He wasn't here when we got here, so he couldn't be." The boy retorts dismissively.

"Well he's a Jōnin, so he could've. Let's go look." The shorter girl insists as the other two stand next to her and begin to walk up to the back of the room.

They take their time, each looking rather worried. It takes them twenty seconds before they see me casually lounging and looking directly at them.

"You were here all along and you didn't tell us?" The boy shouts, but quickly quiets himself once he realises who he's just shouted at.

"I was, yet none of you took the initiative to look around the room fully, I expected a little more from you." I say with a hint of dissatisfaction at my new genin.

"Hello sensei, my name is, Ashida Narumi, pleased to meet you." The smaller of the two girls greets me with a bow.

"My name is, Fuyuki Fumi." The taller girl greets, bowing also but with a hint of sadness at her sensei's gender.

The boy says nothing, still angry at me for not announcing my presence sooner and my immediate disappointment at their lack of initiative. The girls next to him both glare, waiting for him to introduce himself. Which after a moment he does.

"The name's Nagasu Hideshi." The boy spits out, much to the horror of his teammates.

"I see you think you deserve my respect, or at least to be treated as a ninja." I quickly summarize, still lounging.

"I do, I may only be a genin but you should still treat me as a ninja, not a child." He swiftly argues, both girls going pink from embarrassment.

"With that attitude, you'd die on your first mission, you _earn_ respect. Right now you've earned fuck all, passing the academy test means nothing unless I pass you also." I retort as fast as the child did.

"That's not fair, Momo-sensei would never allow it!" The boy bellows again, this time he doesn't hide his anger at all.

"Momo-sensei has no say in the matter, nor does Lord Third before you try that angle. If you fail my test, you can look forward to another year at the academy." I inform the boy, his face now turning white, he's regretting his every word since they found me.

The room fell silent. Both of the girls were in complete shock and the boy was looking at me, trying to conjure a way in his mind to say sorry. Not that it would change the fact I would be testing the trio. The silence persisted for a few moments before the small girl spoke up.

"Oh, sensei, you didn't tell us your name." Narumi says, after regaining her composure.

"If you pass my test I'll tell you, if you don't, well you get the idea. Now, all three of you will meet me at training field three, at six tomorrow morning. If even one of you is late, you fail." I finish, teleporting myself back to my apartment with a crimson flash for a night of seal making.

* * *

The next morning, I arrive at the training field at five, and make my way to the memorial to grieve for a while before arriving in the field to await for the genin. All three of them early, taking my speech yesterday to heart and ensuring they don't get sent back to the academy. I pull out two bells the second they arrive, and hold them out to them.

"These bells are your target, if you can take one you pass. If not you fail, and you'll report back to the academy after we finish." I lay out the test, now attaching each bell to one of my seal marked kunai.

"Sensei, what are those kunai for? Isn't this meant to be a test genin can face, not an all out fight?" Fumi questions, moving her hand over her kunai pouch.

 _Interesting, she's shows some initiative._ I muse.

I throw the kunai into the surrounding woods, and enter my battle stance.

"In this test, you must locate them, whilst fighting me, and if you don't fight me with the intent to kill, you'll fail." I say simply, pulling out another handful of my seal marked kunai and launching them into the woods also.

All three of them tense up before relenting and entering their standard Konoha taijutsu stances. Hideshi watched each kunai as I threw them. He had the look of victory in his eyes.

"Start!" I shout, all three of the genin launch themselves into the woods, looking for my kunais with the bells.

Much to their future dismay, I never threw the kunai with bells into the woods, I kept them on my person with a simple bait and switch esque tactic. The kunai I threw were not marked with my Flying Thunder God formula, but my sensing formula so I would know what the genin get up to in the woods.

"I'd best join the fray." I mutter to myself, launching myself into the woods after them, tracking them to see how they search and move.

After seventeen minutes of their search, they leave the woods and enter the clearing, each at the others throat.

"Which one of you has the bells? I couldn't find it so one of you must have it!" Hideshi seethes towards his two teammates.

"I haven't got it you dullard, you must have it!" Fumi shouts back, leaving Narumi to stand between them to try and calm them.

"Both of you listen! Perhaps sensei has it, he did enter the woods after us, he could of picked them up to see how we'd react." The short genin tries to reason, but falling on the deaf ears of her teammates.

Fumi and Hideshi both enter their battles stances and start a rather mediocre taijutsu brawl, both in denial at their teammates words. I watch the fight for a few minutes, noting their prowess but still annoyed at the fact they've learned nothing. Only one of the three has the qualities of a Konoha shinobi, yet she's far too weak to pass as well. After another moment or so, I jump to them, and am immediately beset upon by the two genin. Each trying their hardest to beat me, now they see the bells dangling from my belt.

Each punch they throw I dodge with such ease it would look like I wasn't even paying attention to them, which for the most part I wasn't. They've fallen too far from the expectation of Konoha ninja, and at this point, I'm just waiting for them to tire. Which after another minute they do, each falling to a knee with slight exhaustion.

"You all fail, none of you have the skills or teamwork required to be a Konoha shinobi or kunoichi. Report to the academy immediately." I say, dismissing them and preparing to leave, but as I do Narumi walks up to me.

"I tried sensei, thank you for everything you taught us, even if it was only for a morning." She bows and leaves to drag the others back to the academy.

"I _did_ nothing." I mutter to myself, before teleporting myself to my apartment, then head to the Hokage's Office to give my report.

* * *

I walk to the Hokage's office, ensuring I have the report ready in my mind so I can get back to creating seals for the rest of the day. I'm close to perfecting a new one and would like to work on it. I see a few other Jōnin-sensei walking with their genin, either taking them for their tests or bonding with them. Either way, at least they had more success than my lot did. That or I was given the bottom of the barrel for students.

I sigh and run the rest of the way to the office, jumping across the rooftops and landing next to the window. I knock and wait for Hiruzen to open the window.

"Yūichi, can I help you? Shouldn't you be with your genin team..? Unless you've already failed them?" Lord Third queries, gesturing for me to enter.

"I failed them, Lord Third. They lacked the qualities of a Konoha-nin and so I believe the best option for them was to go back to the academy." I inform him simply.

"Ah, I understand, is that all you came for? I don't have anything for you to do so until a mission comes up you're on leave. Just remember you'll get another set of genin at the next graduation in around six months." Lord Thirds explains, sitting himself into his chair.

"Yes, Lord Third." I say, leaving through the window I came in, heading home again to make some more progress on my seals.


	8. Chapter VIII: Descent VI

A/N: Fuck its been awhile since I last worked on this and I'm glad I'm back working on it. The updates will be as sporadic as ever but I will continue it... it may just take awhile to get anywhere but I'll try my best to keep working on it. - Two

* * *

TangentTwo: One? Are you there?

TangentOne: *Silence*

TangetTwo: I can hear you breath dammit! *pouts*

TangentOne: *More Silence*

TangentTwo: Fine I'll just go show this to the Almighty Tangent, at least *he* likes me! *pouting intensifies*

* * *

The next round of academy graduations came, and I was a lot less worried this time. The last team had proven I was at least able to keep them in line. Which for a sensei was a pinnacle part of the job. Tsuneko decided to leave ANBU after a few months as I hadn't returned. She decides to help me become a better teacher or at the very least make me able to impart my wisdom to the next generation. However little wisdom I have.

Tsuneko joins me as I leisurely walk to the academy, I had been given the information for today's graduation by Hiruzen. She was here for support, and to keep me from deciding to ask for my transfer back to ANBU. I don't know why but she sees something in me and I intend to make good on whatever it is... or at least try.

"You're going to try harder this time, right?" Tsuneko nags, glaring at me as we walk.

"Yes, I am. Although I'd still rather be on a mission." I return, sighing while my hand covers my face.

"When you pass your genin you'll be able to, admittedly they'd be D or C rank." She states turning her gaze back to her front.

"You're right. At least Lord Third said I could go on missions whenever I'm free and he has one for me." I sigh again as I turn my attention back to the day at hand while simultaneously wishing it would hurry up and end.

The rest of the walk is made in silence. I am hoping I have another set of unworthy genin, so I can go back to missions, no part of me is ready for the responsibility that comes with a genin team. The closer I get to the academy, the more the feeling grows I wouldn't be so lucky, my stomach turning at the very thought of it. The academy is as packed as the last graduation. The parents still trying to coddle their kids for the last time before they enter the real world, a world of death and deceit. As we get to the board with all of the class listings on it, Tsuneko taps me on the shoulder.

"Your team is in floor one, room four." Tsuneko lists, as she spots it much quicker than myself.

"Thank you, have fun with your mission." I return, making my way into the building at a casual pace.

Tsuneko simply waves and jumps to the roof, opting for the quickest route to the Hokage's office. I return the gesture, and stride to the room and open the door. To my surprise, they were already here, two boys and a girl I thought I knew.

"Sensei! I can't believe I have you as my sensei again!" Ashida Narumi swiftly blurts out, a look of joy in her eyes.

"This can't be good." One of the two boys says under his breath and hopes I didn't hear it.

I stroll inside and close the door, walking past them. I decide to stand behind the podium and lean against it casually all while scrutinizing the genin before me. They each seem to have very differing opinion's of me, ranging from happiness to despair. Since the last genin team, I had gained a very bad reputation among the future genin. It was something I could easily change but I thought it would be useful for keeping my genin in line. Or at the very least help me worm out of having another team of genin.

After a few minutes, I stand from my previous leaning position and begin my introduction.

"It seems you all know who I am, but seeing as none of you probably know my name, it's Mizuno Yūichi. Now, the rumors you have heard are true, and I expect that means you know what I expect from you." I start, shifting my gaze from one genin to another, letting it burrow into each of them. "Now, starting with the boy who has shown his annoyance at the fact I was assigned as his sensei, introduce yourself."

The boy seems visually cowed, he had just been called out in front of his peers. Not only that, he is made to seem like he's discontent with his lot. Which I suspect isn't the case, it only seems that way because of who I am. He is rather tall for his age, around five foot two inches. He has light brown hair which was slicked back. His headband lays around his waist, which propped up a pair of blue shinobi pants. He wore a normal blue top with a brown overcoat and a pair of standard blue sandals.

"Yes, sensei." He starts, before bowing and continuing. "My name is Ayano Kazuya."

"Good, you next." I point to the other boy who still suffers from shock.

The other boy stood much shorter than the last, at around four foot six inches. His hair is dark purple which frames his face in short bangs. His attire is black shorts with a purple top that matches his hair and black sandals. His headband is tied around his head, taking up his forehead and is covered by his bangs on either side.

"Oh...erm… yes, sensei." The second boy mirrors his friend. "My name is… is Kitada Kazuharu."

Before I'm able to ask for the third genin's name, she pipes up. "I'm sure you remember me Yūichi-sensei, I'm Ashida Narumi, from your first team about six months ago." She bows deeply all while keeping a face of pure happiness.

The girl stood just shorter than Kazuharu, around four foot two inches. She was clad in a purple battle dress, with a kunai pouch on her left leg. Under the kunai pouch were black leggings and black Konoha standard sandals. Her headband was around her neck, hanging low but still visible to anyone who would look to it.

"Then that's that, get to training field three. I'll conduct my test now as I have nothing better to do." I order pushing myself away from the podium and stride over to the door. "Now, I expect you to be there within the hour, any questions? No? Good." As the last word leaves my mouth I immediately teleport to the training field leaving the genin awestruck.

* * *

I arrive at the training field next to the memorial stone, my kunai still hanging off of the side next to the name of my friend Uchiha Obito. The entire field is clear of anything, the wind whistling through the trees and the grass. I begin my preparations for the test, an improved variation of the last test. This time the kunai will already be in place, the bells hidden deep within the forest, but only a moment away to me.

The preparations didn't take long, and as such, I spend the rest of the time toying with my seals. My seal arsenal is always in need of new seals, variations of current ones and not to mention the experimental ones that even I can't get to work. I'm taken from my concentration by the three genin leaping out of the treeline and landing in front of me.

"Good, now the test at hand is simple, and only one of you knows about it. Figure out who and complete the objective, I'll be watching." I explain swiftly before body flickering into the tree line with such haste they don't see my movements.

The three of them look around, each judging the other before the two boys settle their looks onto Narumi. She's the only one who's ever met me in person, on top of that she's been subjected to the test when she passed her graduation six months ago.

"Narumi, you took this test before didn't you?" The taller of the two boys questions while moving to face her.

Narumi places her hair behind her ears on the right side. "Yes I did, and I'm sure I know what we have to do. Only one issue, there are only two bells so one of us will fail."

As the last of the words leave her mouth, the two boys tense up. Neither wants to fail and have another six months at the academy, but neither also wants to betray the other and force them back into the academy.

"Are you sure? He can't do that can he? Why would he?" Kazuharu asks aloud, pondering on the issue while still tense.

"Well, he will have, he can and lastly because it's a test of our teamwork." Narumi describes with precision.

I must admit she's quick. I muse from the top of a tree.

Kazuya looks at her with confusion all while scratching the back of his head. "Wait, so how do we all pass if there are only two bells? I don't get it, how does it show teamwork if we let one of us fail?"

"Look, once we get a bell we can figure it out. The longer we talk, the more chance for him to hide with said bells." Kazuharu tactfully mentions, pulling out a kunai and readying himself.

Narumi grabs the shoulder of Kazuharu as he tries to leap. "The bells are hidden in the forest on kunai. He kept them on himself last time and he's not stupid enough to do it again, even if he could beat us with a blindfold and his arms tied behind his back."

They all sigh collectively, looking again at each other for a plan. None of them were trained for this back at the academy, as this was more of a test for chūnin than genin. The three begin discussing plans, looking for a way to prove themselves to me. They keep at it until Kazuya raises his hand.

"I have an idea, why don't we find him and attempt to subdue him while one of us searches for the kunai in question. Does anyone have any tracking skills?" He asks looking back and forth at his teammates.

"I do and I can say finding a kunai will be hard, mostly because I have no clue how many he could have planted. The other issue is that he's been watching us this whole time, I doubt he's even trying to hide his presence." Kazuharu brings to the group's attention while pointing at the tree I'm stood at the top of.

Both Narumi and Kazuya follow his directions, and to their surprise, I am visible at the top of the tree. Within a second of noticing me they leap into the forest, the boys both following Narumi. They hide quickly as I finally jump back into the clearing.

"Well shit, they actually work well together. I knew I couldn't be lucky twice and who would've known the girl from last time was this damn smart." I place my head into my hand, letting my seals keep track of the genin.

The seals keep alerting me as they make their way through the woods, picking up each of the kunai and moving to the next with it in hand. After ten minutes Kazuya and Narumi jump out of the forest, one landing in front of me the other behind both enter combat stances, he Konoha standard, and pull out kunai, my kunai.

"Where are the bells sensei?" Narumi questions me, her gaze locked with mine.

"Where they always have been." I point to the forest with a smirk. "In there. As you said no reason to keep them on me this time around."

"It can't be, we collected all of the kunai!" Kazuya shouts launching himself at me.

I turn as he closes in, grabbing his hand and forcing him to the ground. I take his own kunai from his hand and direct it at the back of his head all while placing my knee on his back to keep him in place. As I do a set of kunai find themselves flying towards me. I quickly pull out a sealed kunai and throw it to the side, once it's out of the path of the kunai I teleport myself and the boy to it.

Within moments, Narumi sprints towards me with kunai in hand, throwing them in volleys. Each one being blocked as I keep Kazuya safe from them. As she gets into melee range she starts a barrage of attacks ranging from slashes to stabbing. As with the kunai, I block each of the attacks, letting her push me back as I drag Kazuya along. It lasts for another minute before I jump back and continue to assess where the third genin is.

Before I can two kunai fly into the ground in front of me, both with bells attached. I relinquish my hold on Kazuya and stand myself upright, an air of authority comes over me.

"Well done you three, you got the bells. Well, you got the kunai they were attached to, the bells, however." I put my hand into my pouch and pull out two bells, as I do the bells on the kunai poof. "Anyway, excluding that fact, and to my annoyance, you pass." A smile etches itself onto my face.

Kazuharu drops out of the treeline with a half look of confusion and happiness, joining his teammates, who all start chatting amongst themselves. Narumi breaks away from the duo for a second and walks to my side, as she does sheathing her kunai.

"I don't understand sensei, why did we pass when we didn't get the bells?" Narumi asks, placing her hair back behind her ears.

"As you told the other this is a test of teamwork, the bells were a means to that end. Anyway, tell the others that we begin missions tomorrow morning and to meet me at the mission center." I explain, grabbing my kunai off of the ground and placing them back into my pouch.

"Don't you want to tell them your-" She tries to reply but to her dismay, I had already left.


End file.
